A Different Attitude
by chimney leaf
Summary: Blaming himself for his father's death has led Gohan down an altered path. Can a certain girl bring back the happiness? Gh/Vi.
1. Change

**Author's Note - **This story is an au where Gohan has a twin sister, named Mika. It primarily revolves around Gohan and to a lesser extent Mika, and will be Gohan/Videl. It concentrates on how Gohan's mind could have changed after Goku's death, and if it will return to normal (he won't be insane). It begins after the Cell Games, and everything in the story went as it did in the show up until that point. Mika started to train with Gohan when he got back from Namek, and trained for the androids. She also went inside the rosat with Goku and Gohan, I don't care about the two people thing, since Toriyama didn't seem to either, e.g. Buu saga. They discovered girls can't go ssj. I am not a sexist but it just works better for the story, and I'm going with Toriyama who said girls can't. She will be strong though, exactly as strong as base form Gohan. I'm really not sure how long this will be either, but I doubt it will be too long.

****

**CHAPTER ONE - CHANGES**

Gohan lay on his bed staring into space. His mother's muffled sobs could be heard through the thin walls. She was crying. Again. A week had passed since that fateful day and Gohan had barely moved from his current position since returning home and telling his mother the news. She had tried to keep up with her housework, her cooking, tried to keep busy to take her mind off matters, but it showed how distraught she was.

Gohan mentally cursed himself. It was all his fault, he felt like giving up completely, just ending his life quickly. He had soon come to realise this would not atone for his errors, it would not bring his father back. His father's death had pushed him over the edge. He would never get over this. He would never be that happy, smiling child again. Years of training and fighting in a constant struggle for survival, travelling to far distant planets and witnessing further cruelties of the universe and being so close to death himself on so many occasions had taken their toll on him. He had been able to bottle the feelings up for years, relying on his childhood innocence and good heartedness to banish them to the back of his mind, remembering only the good memories. However, now they had all returned.

He could see the complete indifference to others that Vegeta probably felt, born out of years being subservient to a ruthless tyrant. Who knows what he was forced to endure under Frieza's rule, what horrors had been forced upon him. Gohan was not a fool, even before his innoncence had been stripped away from his mind, he was confident that Vegeta had probably been beaten to to near death, tortured mercilessly and God knows what else by his superiors as a youngster. A person does not go through that sort of life without it affecting them in the long run. It had shaped and moulded him into the uncaring, hate filled being he was know, and he could sense it happening to him know, but to a very different degree.

His sister, his twin Mika was probably faring a little better, she had not endured the same hardships as Gohan from such a young age, only the last three years, in preparation for the androids had she begun to really train, to harness her power, and join the struggle. That was one reason why he had chosen not to destroy himself, he had to be strong for his sister, his mother. His family. That would probably send them both into the darkness he now languished in. It would destroy them both as well. Along with the child that was now obviously inside Chichi, that he had sensed just two days ago.She had not yet discovered her pregnancy, it was still in its early stages, and Gohan had found no reason to tell her yet, it would just upset her so much more, to know she would have a child that would grow up without a father, a father that he had killed through his own stupidity and arrogance.

Gohan herad his mother opening her door, probably getting up to cook the children their meals. It was a job she shouldn't have to do right now. He decided to stirr himself from his vegetative state and give her a hand. He slowly walked over to his door and opened it. He saw his mother walking morosely down the hall to the kitchen. He slipped out of his room and followed her silently. As they both reached the kitchen he decided to make his presence known to her with a slight cough. As she turned he quickly averted his eyes from her gaze and looked down to the floor.

"Are you alright honey?" she questioned in a motherly tone.

Without looking up he replied "You shouldn't be up, you should rest."

She noticed his downward cast gaze "Why won't you look at me honey, you haven't since you've been back, have I done something wrong?"

"Of course not!"

"Then what is it?"

"How can I look you in the eye after what I have done. I killed your husband, my father. I'm a disgrace." He kept his eyes down throughout.

"Don't think like that, I didn't even think you thought that way, none of it was your fault. I don't blame a thing on you, your father's death was almost certain, he died in the other timeline, I think that this was his time Gohan, nothing you could have done would have stopped that, I think that's why he chose to stay dead." She reached a hand out to his chin and forced his head upwards. Gohan decided now would be as good a time as any to look into his mother's eyes. Her puffy, red eyes were showing obvious signs of almost unrelentless crying, but he saw love for him in them, and importantly, forgiveness. It was obvious Chichi had forgiven her son, she truly did not blame him. Shame he couldn't forgive himself. She pulled him into a tight hug for a few short moments and released him. "Now go and find your sister, see how he is, I need to start your dinner." He advanced to the front door to locate his sister. He found her just a few feet from the door. She was sat leaning against the wall of the house with her eyes closed.

"I heard you and mom" she kept her eyes fixed shut. "I can't believe you would think we all blame you." He sat down beside her.

"So you don't blame me either?" She suddenly turned towards him and stared deeply into the eyes they shared, identical to one another. In her eyes he could see the same things as in his mother's, full of understanding, forgiveness, compassion and love.

"Not a bit." She replied simply, turning away, putting her arm around him in a comforting embrace.

"Did you notice mom?" he whispered a few moments later.

"The baby? Yeah."

"Should we tell her?"

"No, not yet, just let it lie for a while. I was thinking, about what dad said, when he spoke to us."

"Which bit?"

"About keeping up our training a bit, keeping our strength and our skills. Just in case."

"Yeah, we should, but not too much, we should study for mom as well."

"Just a bit of light sparring every night or so."

"That should be enough, fighting isn't something I want to be doing constantly anymore, I'm so tired of it mentally."

"That'll be enough for me, but you probably need a challenge, someone to fight at a higher power level."

"I'll be fine just with you."

"In your normal form yes, but you need something more, maybe Vegeta?"

"He wouldn't have any of it! Would he?"

"I dunno, maybe if you tell him it'll help him get stronger, which it will of course. He can't just keep doing push ups in high gravity, that's so boring."

Gohan smirked. "I suppose I could think about it, we'll see. Now come on, let's get inside."

They both rose to their feet and Mika began strolling to the door. She looked round when she noticed Gohan wasn't following. "You coming?"

"In a minute." He looked up at the sky. His talk with his mother and sister had taken his mind off matters, but now he was dwelling on the changes taking pace in his mind. He would have to be strong for those he knew, the ones he cared about. He would try to be happy for them once again, but soon he wouldn't be able to at all, he would just have to be there for them. He thought of the world he had just saved, of the people. That fool Satan had taken the glory, and ridiculed the other fighters who had been present. Gohan didn't care of the glory being taken from him, but he did not approve of the fact that those fools would never know of his father's sacrifice and his friends' efforts. He could feel a deep dislike and indifference to the people of earth in general now. He would still protect them if need be physically, but mentally they could all go to hell, they didn't care so neither would he. He wouldn't care what they thought of him, or what he did. He felt the uncaring, unemotional mask creeping up his face, one that would only grow over the next few years. He knew now for sure. He had changed.


	2. Birth

**AUTHOR'S NOTE - This is the next chapter up. It is a bit shorter than I expected, but I will put what I was going to put at the end in the next one.These first two have been a LOT more angsty than I expected, I just couldn't stop spouting off that crap. I have a fairly certain idea with where this is going, but if you think it seems like it is taking a direction that would not be for the best don't hesitate to tell me, I might take heed of any advice.**

**To papas 269, - Gohan will NOT be gothic or anything like that, sorry if it disappoints anyone butI'm not like that myself so I can't relate. Don't expect him to go about in slayer hoodies and listening to death metal. It is Gohan's attitude and outlook on life that will become clear, he will be a bit like Vegeta, but still pure hearted if that makes sense at all. **

The next few months passed by fairly eneventfully. Gohan gradually fell into his depressed antisocial nature, neglecting contact with the outside world as much as his mother would allow him. His mother's strict study regime that she had implemented soon after the twins' return was in fact only deepening his hatred for the social niceties. If this was what it took for a person to get by in life in the civilised world, he didn't want any part of it. He granted his mother's wishes to study however, as had his sister. He had after all killed her husband. He had soon realised what the changes his mind had gone through did to his psyche. He would be happy if he never saw a city again in his life, full of all those ignorant, foolish people with their stupid little minds. In the past he would of had time for anyone, time to listen to whatever they had to say, no matter how stupid or idiotic they were. Now, however, he couldn't stand being around groups of people at all.

A few weeks after his mother had learned of her pregnancy, he had been sent to a Capsule Corporation by his mother to pick up all of the things she needed for the duration of the pregnancy. He had reluctantly gone, and flown straight into the grounds. While there, he avoided Vegeta, still not decided if he was a good choice for a sparring partner. However, while waiting for Bulma to collect all of his mother's list, he wandered into a lab where two male employees were discussing the events of the Cell Games. They seemed sure of Mr. Satan's greatness, and even had the cheek to insult the other fighters who had been present, as if they knew exactly what had happened, and wondering who they had been. Vegeta had been on camera for minutes during the transmission and he wasn't a person who went easily unnoticed, and he wasn't one to hide from humans in his own house. It surprised Gohan how they could be so ignorant, all they had to do was put two and two together and ask Vegeta. But then again, they probably would have met their untimely ends at his hands. Instead of putting them straight, Gohan just decided to knock their heads together, literally. They didn't wake up for weeks. Bulma wasn't too happy with him, but seemed to understand when he calmly explained the situation. This was when Gohan realised the city probably wasn't a good place for him to go.

Even in the country, in his quiet, peaceful home he could find no peace. Even during his small number of visits to the Lookout he found his anger and annoyance at all small matters creeping up on him. Piccolo had kept his distance, allowing Gohan to come to him when he needed to. Their meetings had been silent, Gohan just needing someone to sit with him on occasion. Piccolo had been one of the people Gohan had been able to stand, along with Mika, his mother, Dende and Bulma. How they could stand him he didn't quite know. His mother and Mika he could understand, they were his family, and he had befriended Dende long before his father had. Piccolo too, had been closer with Gohan than anyone was with anyone else, Gohan had been his first friend. Bulma however, was harder for Gohan to comprehend. She had known Goku for longer than anyone, and was possibly his best friend, maybe even more so than Krillin. He had steered clear of the others in fear of losing his temper or saying something he would regret and in fear of what they might think of him after what he had done. So, he tried as best he could to keep his mind off matters and threw himself into studying.

Most of the group had seen Gohan's obvious metamorphosis from his previous self, rightly attributing it to a world that had wronged him, stolen his childhood and innocence and ultimately broken him. They had also quickly realised how utterly futile it would be to try to help him, to change him into what he had once been, but he had grown too much in his eleven years, more than any other boy should.

Fairly soon, the time of Chichi and Goku's child's birth had arrived. Chichi had moved into Capsule Corporation with the twins in her last week of pregnancy, neither leaving her side, both eating, drinking and sleeping with her, not allowing her to come to harm. The baby was born in a routine procedure. It was a boy, that Chichi had named Goten, in keeping with the family tradition that now stood for the Son males. Soon afterwards, Goten was sleeping peacefully in Chichi's arms.

"Why don't you two go for a walk?" Chichi suggested to her children. Tiredness evident in her voice. "You need some fresh air."

"I'd rather not, you shouldn't be on your own. And besides, I might end up doing something I shouldn't." Gohan replied. He was currently in a relatively good mood, being in the presence of only his family, but he still wasn't smiling, something that he couldn't remember doing in over nine months.

"Mika can keep you out of trouble, I'm sure."

"Come on Gohan, mom's the strongest woman in the world, she'll be fine." Mika joined the conversation. Chichi gave a pleading look to her son.

"Ok, I suppose you could do with some time on your own with Goten." He sighed in defeat and started trudging towards the door, Mika trailing him. They soon arrived at the exit out into the city. Gohan cringed at the sight of the people milling about in front of him. A scowl soon overcame his previously neutral face. Mika looked over to him.

"Come on, I'll keep an eye on you." She grabbed hold of him by the arm and powered up a little, just in case anything kicked off, and began dragging him to the pavement.

Gohan tried to block out the sounds and images of the outside world and focus only on his twin. He sat down on the wall outside of Capsule Corporation, not wanting to venture further. Mika soon sat next to him. He sighed and looked dejectedly down at the ground. "Did you see Goten's face? Just like dad."

"I know its hard, with all the reminders, but you have to move on from it."

"How can I? Goten is a constant reminder of what I did, he has to grow up not knowing his father, knowing his brother is a failure."

"Stop talking like this!" She shot up and glared at him. "How many times do we have to go over this. None of it is your fault, nobody blames you, I don't, mom doesn't and especially not dad. Ok."

"Whatever." He obviously didn't agree with her sentiments.


	3. Lookout

**A/N-** Ok, I've decided to keep up with the stroy as it is, thanks for the support with it. However, I'm changing the ages to those that appear in the manga (Gohan is nine when he kills Cell), so he will be 16 at school. I recommend reading the manga if possible, it is better than the show, but doesn't have as much relationship stuff in it. Gohan is not as nerdy though, and doesn't say ridiculous things like 'turbospeed', and the poses are done once, (they were just a piss take of sailor moon), and the saiyaman outfit looks alright. The entire anime was altered from the manga to make Goku look stronger tham he actually is, mystic gohan is actually at least 3 times stronger than ssj3 Goku, even ssj Gotenks is. Sorry to ramble on, here is chapter 3.

* * *

Gohan continued to sit there with his sister standing by his side, simply glaring at him. He slowly rose to his feet and looked her in the eye. He saw pain in them, but he saw the hope and innocence that he was so sure had left his own. He had resigned himself to being the way he was, it was to much of an effort to retain a happy, cheerful demeanor.

"Is this the way you want Goten to see you when he's older? To see a brooding, cold and angry role model? Because that's what he will see you as. You want him to have to look up to someone like Vegeta?" She demanded.

"Of course not. God forbid he ends up anything like me." He said sullenly.

"Well that's what will happen, because you are acting just like him right now."

"Well Piccolo used to act like this, and I turned out fine. For a little while at least" he sighed.

"Yes, but you had dad too. You had his influence."

"Well he'll have you, and our mother and all the others."

"Yes, but he needs a male, a permanent male figure to look up to. You."

He quickly rose to his feet. "I'm going to the Lookout. I can't stand it here anymore." He shot off before Mika could gauge the look on his face.

As quickly as possible, without transforming Gohan raced to the lookout. He needed some time to think. As he ascended the tower and set his feet on the tiled surface of his destination, he saw his mentor and long time friend looking where he stood. He had been expecting him. Gohan sat down and dangled his legs precariously over the edge. Piccolo moved over to him and stood imposingly to the side, their heads almost six feet apart, and looked down upon his former student.

"We were watching that, Dende and I. You know that your sister's right. And I know that you don't really want to be like this at all."

"No, I don't, but I have no choice. I just can't shake these feelings off. I really don't want to rub any of this off on Goten. He's only just been born, but it won't be long until he will really start to pick up on emotions and moods. And the same goes for Trunks. Just imagine what he might turn out like if Vegeta is his only influence in life." Piccolo, who had by this time actually sat down beside Gohan to his surprise, let out a low chuckle at this, the thought of a purple haired, miniature version of Vegeta running around not seeming too appealing. "Trunks really seemed to look up to the Gohan in his time, he trained him and looked after him, I just hope I can measure up."

"Well it was you wasn't it, so I'm sure you will."

"I don't know how Trunks did it, how he kept himself from ending up like I am now."

"Maybe he just hid it well, and besides, people are different, not all of us have the same reactions to events. Besides, his circumstances were very different. The life he knew was the one he had known for his entire existence, he knew of nothing else, but you have lived a peaceful life for some sections of your time here. You have vivid memories of how good it can be, and how that has been stripped away from you. But you have to remember, you are a 9 year old boy. You shouldn't of been training to fight evil aliens and travelling to the far reaches of the galaxy at your age. A 9 year old boy should not be the most powerful being in the universe either, but look how things turned out. I thonk you need a way to let your emotions out, and to vent your frustration."

"What do you suggest?"

"A good sparring partner."

"Like you?"

Piccolo let out a short laugh. "No chance. There is no way I could keep up, it wouldn't be worth it."

"Who do you suggest then?"

"Vegeta."

"I was afraid you were gonna say that."

"Why don't you want to train with him?"

"I'm not sure. Anyway, he never even wanted to train with his son, why would he let a son of Kakkarot train with him?"

"I'm pretty sure he didn't enjoy it when you became so much stronger than him. He will want to attain the level you have reached, maybe he will let you help him a little. And since Goku's dead, he has lost his rival. He really wanted to test his strength against your father, and you are the next best thing. At least talk to him about it. He is the strongest next to you. Even though you are far above him, he is the only option. Just talk to him about it, I'm sure that this'll lighten you up a bit. And it will keep your strength up, just in case. Not all threats are related to that big headed father of yours."

"There's only one problem."

"What's that?"

"My mother."

A smile graced Piccolo's lips, thinking of the trouble they would undoubtedly have when trying to convince Chichi to allow Gohan to train even a little. "Just explain to her how it will help you, I'm sure she doesn't want you growing up like this. It's not like you will be training all the time. I think one day a week or so will be enough. But I suggest you wait a little while, until the child is a bit further along, you will have to help your mother as much as possible over the next few months. Both of you kids will need to look after the little one."

"Yeah, you're right, I'll wait a few months. Thanks for the chat Piccolo, I'll come by some time soon to check up on Dende and you. Ok?"

"Sure thing. Just keep your chin up, and don't go beating the crap out of some poor sap in the city at the slighest annoyance."

Gohan stood up, ready to depart. "Don't worry, I'll be keeping out of the city, unless dropping in at Capsule Corp for something, until I have my chat with Vegeta of course." With that he flew off the Lookout, heading straight towards his family at CC.

* * *

A/N- Things are going slow at the moment in the story, but should pick up soon. I don't care, I'm not writing this for awards. 


	4. Power

This took a while to start, I'm so lazy. I didn't realise writing was this hard! By the way, I'm English, so I spell things PROPERLY (no offence to Americans), so no z's everywhere, among other things.

About female Saiya-jins, I think Toriyama said they couldn't go ssj in an interview, which is a rare thing for him, he's a bit of a recluse, especially now. Remember Japan is very different to Europe and America, women are seen a little differently over there, and Toei obviously agree with him with Pan. Who cares about that, GT is grade A shit.

I don't own the lyrics to the song, which is How To Be Dead by Snow Patrol, nor do I own DBZ

* * *

The next three months went by fairly uneventfully, and the anniversary of Goku's death, and the Cell Games was fast approaching. Goten was growing healthily, Gohan and Mika were continuing with their studies, much to Chichi's pleasure, and little training was being done in the Son household. Gohan had not yet visited Vegeta with his requests for traing, and according to Bulma, amazingly Vegeta had not even mentioned training at all. When Gohan had been over to visit CC with the family, he had avoided Vegeta, having sensed his suppressed ki loitering about the gravity room. Apparently Goku's death had really knocked the fighting spirit out of him. What was the point of being strong when you didn't have your greatest rival to prove yourself against. Gohan hoped if Vegeta couldn't train to beat the crap out of Kakkarot, maybe Kakkarot's son would do. Even Bulma had hardly been able to speak to him. All he did was sit alone in the dark of his training chamber eating all day long, something Gohan wouldn't mind doing himself. 

Gohan knew he was moody to say the least. The smallest annoyance would set him off in a rage, usually he would take it out on the person closest at the time. That person was usually Mika. Luckily she was a fiery girl with a fiery temper, so she could give as good as she got. This didn't make Gohan feel any better, and he hoped he could find a way to let out his anger and rage in a more controlled fashion. Mika never wanted to train with him, and Gohan suspected she might not even want to fight at all any more. He didn't really enjoy to fight, but it was part of him, it was ingrained into his very being and soul, and he knew training would allow him to release his pent up feelings. The only obstacle was his mother, but he was sure she would agree once he explained the pros that so outweighed the cons of a little training. Soon would come the day that he would have his little talk with her.

Currently he was sat on his bed, keeping an eye on Goten in his crib. Goten had been forced to sleep in Gohan's room, or rather he had forced his way in there. He had latched himself onto Gohan, something Gohan had not been too happy about. He loved his brother, of course he did, but he didn't want him to look to Gohan for support or guidance. He saw himself as a terrible role model, someone not to be looked up to. He thought it was best Goten did not want to stick around him too much, he didn't want him to end up anything like himself. He did however find himself dropping his mask of sad emotions once in a while around the young boy, something that now felt very strange indeed. A laugh or a smile from the baby would actually bring a genuine smile to grace Gohan's features, something that happened very rarely, all that was normally found there was a smirk at something mildly amusing, or during an argument, a solid frown.

On the anniversary of the Cell Games, celebrations were taking place all over the world, most in favour of the 'saviour' of the world, which according to the great majority was of course Mr. Satan. In the case of the Son family, however, celebrations of a different kind were taking place. They were simply planning on visiting Capsule Corporation for the day, the house held too many memories. It wasn't that they didn't want to remember Goku, it was just preferable for them to remember him somewhere else, where Chichi wouldn't break down crying at every site that stirred up painful thoughts.

So they all decided to fly over there early in the morning. For some reason, Gohan felt today could be the day he started training again. Maybe it was just the fact that a whole year was a heck of a long time, maybe the anninversary held some sort of closure for him, and he hoped the same could be said for Vegeta. Piccolo still refused to spar with him, and he getting more and more restless as the days passed. He planned on spending the day at his father's 'grave'. Obviously there was no body present, but a small gravestone had been erected in the gardens inside Capsule Corporation. It was a simple, dull grey headstone, with no words on at all, save a clean, plain 'Son Goku'. That was all that was needed.

So Gohan was sat alone staring at Goku's headstone, thinking of the times they had together, and trying to block out the voices in his mind blaming himself. He still of course still blamed himself and he couldn't see himself ever relinquishing that thought. He was also trying to push away thoughts that his father had actually chosen to stay dead, had left his family behind in order to train in the afterlife, but he could not bring himself to really think on these. His own anger towards himself greatly dwarfed any anger directed at Goku.

Chichi was sat with Bulma and Mika in the kitchen of CC, reminiscing over old memories, Vegeta once again in the gravity room. Gohan felt he had suffered enough at the hands of the voices in his head, he had to get away from this place. Without a word to anyone he flew silently from the building and found himself absently fying about the globe. He flew for hours and hours, at top speed making circles about the globe. Eventually he found himself at his planned destination. He had mulled over whether to revisit that fateful place. Point 28K-5 northwest of the central capital. The site of the Cell Games. He was dimly aware of his anger rising with the sites of the area, the cliffs, the craters and the faint traces of the arena that had been destroyed. With a short yell he transformed into a super saiya-jin.

_Please don't go crazy, if I tell you the truth  
No you don't know what happened  
And you never will if  
You don't listen to me while I talk to the wall  
This blanket is freezing, it's been out in the hall  
Where you've had me for hours  
Till I'm sure what I want  
But darling I want the same thing that I wanted before  
So sweetheart tell me what's up I won't stop no way_

With another, far louder, longer yell, Gohan pushed past his limits as a super saiyan and used the anger he had inside himself to transform into a super saiya-jin 2.

_Please keep your hands down  
And stop raising your voice  
It's hardly what I'd be doing if you gave me a choice  
It's a simple suggestion can you give me sometime  
So just say yes or no  
Why can't you shoulder the blame  
Coz both my shoulders are heavy  
From the weight of us both  
You're a big boy now so let's not talk about growth  
You've not heard a single word I have said...  
Oh, my God_

With a thunderous yell, heard for miles around, he slowly crept up to his full power. Every ki sensing being on the planet had felt the power growing long ago, but none dared approach. Perhaps this was something for him to do alone. Besides, none of them even had the strength to approach him. They wouldn't even get close.

Please take it easy it can't all be my fault  
I haven't made half the mistakes  
That you've listed so far  
Oh baby let me explain something  
It's all down to drugs  
At least I remember taking the and not a lot else  
It seems I've stepped over lines  
You've drawn again and again  
But if the ecstacy's in the wit is definitely out  
Dr. Jekyll is wrestling Hyde for my pride

Gohan could feel his two sides and personalities wrestling each other. His human side, which was formerly so calm, warm and relaxed was now restless, cold and anxious, but still trying to fight for his humanity and sanity, and what he suspected were his Saiyan genes showing through, so ruthless and unmerciful had begun to merge during the Cell Games. This was what was causing him to act this way, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Many thousands of miles away, a young girl was roused from the Satan day celebrations when she felt something strange, something she would not understand or be able to explain to anyone for years to come, something so untangible for the time being that it scared her. All she knew was that what she could feel was some kind of _power, _a very strong power. Another fact that unnerved her was that no one else she knew had any idea of what she felt, no one had the answers, even her father, who always seemed to have answers to everything.

* * *

Wow, no dialogue at all! At least Videl got a mention (I hope you realised that) 


	5. Gravity

Gohan had spent an hour screaming his lungs out, forcing his mind to undergo the pain of feeling that power again. It had been the first time since the Cell Games he had done it. He had not felt the need to, the drive had not been there to train at all, let alone at his full power. It was now early evening and the day was far from over. He still had a window of opportunity for his talk with Vegeta. He slowly rose to his feet and took off slowly into the sky. It didn't take long to reach his target, and without any word to the others he entered Capsule Corp and made his way to Vegeta's gravity room. It was locked. He knocked harshly, he wasn't in the mood for hanging about. He could sense no movement of the ki located inside that suggeste it would open the door. It was obvious Vegeta was inside but did not want any visits, it was like he had lost the will to live. But of course fighting was Vegeta's life, so if he lost the will to do that, he may of well lost the will to live. Gohan could feel his anger rise. Stupid Vegeta, pissing him off like this. This situation and his reaction to it was testament to his strange emotions at this time in his life, to his unstable mind. One second he was as cool as a cucumber, the next a raging inferno. In this case he wasn't quite yet an inferno, but he certainly was angry. He wouldn't wait any longer. The door was built to withstand a fair bit of abuse, particularly from the inside, but bulma hadn't upgraded it since the Cell Games, she hadn't needed to. Gohan in his normal form was far stronger than Vegeta had ever been as a super Saiya-jin before he had entered the Room of Spirit and Time. Maybe if he smashed his way through Vegeta would experience a little wake up call.

He allowed his energy to rise and transformed easily, he had done it so many times now. He raised a fist and quickly unleashed his full fury upon the door. The action of destroying the door turned out to be even easier than he had expected. His arm was now through the six inches of metal up to his shoulder. He pulled back and the door came with his arm, ripping off its large hinges. He removed it from his arm and dropped it just inside the chamber. He saw Vegeta slumped against the opposite wall, an amused expression floating about his face. "I thought you might do something like that. Its good to let your anger vent on something."

Gohan ignored his comment and looked around the room. Food was piled high up against the walls. It looked like Vegeta was preparing a fall-out shelter or something of the like. It wasn't a very tidy one though, wrappers and papers were strewn all over the floor. Gohan shook his head and let out a chuckle. "You fat bastard! Ha! Have you just been eating all year. It looks like you've put on weight too you know." It was true, he did look slightly plump. Good job he wasn't human, the amount of food he had eaten would probably have given him a heart attack from the weight put on.

Vegeta had an angered look on his face. "A Saiya-Jin never puts on weight!"

"Yeah, if they train. But I hear you haven't. What kind of a Saiya-Jin Prince are you?"

"Just leave me alone. I have no wish to fight anymore. What's the point if I don't have a rival to test my strength against?"

"What about me?"

"I've resigned myself to the fact that you will always be above me now. There is too great a difference between us, and you are still a child. It's humiliating."

"Then do something about it. Train. If we trained together a little I'm sure-"

"NO!" He jumped up as he got fiered up. Time for drastic measures Gohan thought. He rushed froward to the Prince and landed a punch right in the centre of his stomach. He pulled his fist back and landed a punch square on his jaw. He continued his relentless assault for a few more seconds before Vegeta began to defend himself. The older Saiya-Jin was forced to transform and stood back from the younger. Gohan now transformed as well. He went on the attack again, and Vegeta at his full power was still no match for him. Eventually he had slumped to the floor and was breathing raggedly, now in his normal form. "That was pathetic Vegeta. Is this what you want your son to see you like in years to come? And who will train him? Surely you want him to become a fighter like yourself? You are a fighter are you not?"

Vegeta let out a long sigh. "Of course I am." He turned to look away from Gohan. "I'm surprised to hear that you want to train. What of your mother? Will she allow it?"

"I'm sure I can swing her round to my way of looking at things. I need a way to let out some of this aggression. And it will only be a few times a week anyway."

Gohan watched Vegeta, scrutinising him. He seemed to be trying to decide whether to recommence his training. Gohan could understand this. It had taken him a while to make his mind up. Vegeta had obviously been trying to come to this decision for a long while before Gohan turned up, and suddenly blurted out his answer. "Yes. I will give you the pleasure of training with me."

Gohan smiled. He knew Vegeta would spurt out some crap like that. "Because I'm third class?"

"You rate yourself far too high. You would have been an outcast in Saiya-jin society, if you had not been executed as a child. Half breed, feh." Gohan was a little startled. He had never thought about it like that. "Besides, you are possibly far stronger than any Saiya-jin there ever was. As am I of course." Vegeta stated this fairly proudly. "You have excelled yourself in battle, on many occasions, and I wish to reach the level you have attained.. If you had been a full blooded Saiya-jin when the society was still present, you would be elite, but that of course is an odd subject."

"So you will train with me? Definitely?"

"Yes, but I want you to do something for me." Vegeta strode over to the control panel in the centre of the room and pressed a small button. "I want you to learn the Saiya-jin language. The tongue spoken on this planet is the universal dialect, you know that. I could go anywhere and speak it. I want the few remaining Saiya-jins to be able to relate to each other in it. It is extremely instinctive and primal."

"Yes, my father and I found ourselves blurting out words in the language when we spent time in the room at the Lookout. It must of been the fact that we had no other contact besides with each other."

"It should not take you long to learn it. You are a very intelligent individual, that will help." A couple of the cleaning bots rolled into the gravity room at this point, obviously signalled by the button Vegeta pressed a few moments earlier, and began clearing the mess.

"Alright, so we have a deal, I'll learn the language, you train with me. Done?" Vegeta ambled forward and held out his hand for Gohan to shake, which he took without hesistation. "I'll come back in two weeks, I want you and the rrom back in shape." Gohan said, ignoring the fact that it had been he who had destroyed the entrance. "And it'll give me time to convince my mother." Gohan turned and began to leave the room.

"Gohan, I want to say thank you. You saved my life during the Cell Games, on more than one occasion. And for rekindling my fighting spirit. I don't want to think what I would be like in a few years if I had continued down this road."

"It's fine. I couldn't have killed Cell without your distraction. You were the only one who could help me. Even Piccolo wouldn't have affected him." Gohan realised he had not spoke of the events so freely with anyone since they occurred. "And as for your fighting spirit, it is as much for my benefit as yours."

"It's just a shame I can't prove myself against Kakkarot. The baka had to go and get himself killed." Vegeta obviously wasn't bothered about talking about this in front of Gohan, which almost no one else on the planet would have done. Gohan found himself not really minding. Vegeta had seen enough of death for him to be able to do so.

"Don't fret Vegeta, I'm sure my father will be back. One day." He left with a smile. Maybe he actually would one day be able return.

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"I absolutely refuse to allow you to be around that monster in any shape or form Son Gohan! I forbid it" Chichi screamed at Gohan. He had just revealed to his mother what he planned to do, and it had taken a fair bit of courage to do so, expecting the worst. Which had of course happened. Goten sat giggling, cradled by Mika.

"Look mother, I need to do this, it is part of who I am."

"But don't you want to be educated, to be a scholar." Chichi now sounded exasperated. "I thought that's what you wanted."

"It is, but I don't have to study every second of every day. It just isn't necessary."

"Gohan is right" Mika was now putting her worth in. "We don't need to be learning constantly, we need a break. And training will be a good outlet for him. You know how moody and temperamental he's being. Do you want Goten growing up around that? And he still isn't communicating at all with ousiders. He won't talk when we go to the town, he ignores everyone. Training will be a step on the road towards the old Gohan."

"I hope you aren't considering this nonsense young lady?"

"No of course not. No. I have better things to do. I'm done with fighting."

"Yes, you have your friends from the town. It's a shame two of Gohan's closest friends will soon be a green alien and a psycopath. _Another _alien."

"What have you got against aliens? You married one didn't you?" Mika questioned.

"Yes, well... So how much time were you considering giving over to training?"

Gohan looked over at his mother sheepishly. "Erm..maybe every other ni-"

"No. Twice a week or no food." Chichi turned on her heel and strode ito the kitchen. "Or no food" she shouted.

Gohan sagged. "Well that was enjoyable."

True to his word, Gohan had gone over to Capsule Corporation two weeks after his talk with Vegeta at the crack of dawn. Their training had commenced immediately, as had the learning of the Saiya-jin language. It had not taken Gohan long to learn, and now six years later he was fluent, and the two normally spoke to each other in it when alone, and often when in the presence of others, infuriating Bulma. The years had passed by quickly, the twins kept up their studies, much to the delight of Chichi, just as they had in the year after Cell, but Gohan had still not befriended or opened up to anyone new, except of course Goten and Trunks, but that was a certainty, and the two almost idolised him. Vegeta trained constantly, and had recently ascended past a super Saiya-jin. As Vegeta had become a super Siaya-jin through anger at himself, and being weaker than Goku, Gohan had used a similar technique for this one. He had planned it for one training session. He had taken his power as far as it's highest reaches and brutally thrashed Vegeta about the room, taunting him of his weakness relentlessly. The plan had worked flawlessly, and he had been congratulated on it by Vegeta afterwards. Gohan was still the stronger of the two, even with Vegeta's constant training. Gohan was currently sat up in bed reading. He heard the phone ringing, Chichi would pick it up. It abruptly stopped ringing, and a few seconds later, she was calling up to him. "Gohan it's Bulma, and it sounds urgent."

"I'm on my way." He rose quickly and dashed down the stairs, taking the handset form his awaiting mother. "Yes?"

"Gohan, I have a school coming over TODAY" He looked up at the clock. 8 AM. Shit. He slammed down the receiver, grabbed some shorts and pulled them on quickly -he couldn't go out in his boxers- and literally flew out of the door. His mother understood the urgency of the situation, she knew all about the last school trip that had occurred at CC when Gohan had not been present. Every few months Bulma had groups from schools visit the company, and they scheduled Gohan and Vegeta's training sessions accordingly. Bulma must have overlooked this one. Vegeta had to be kept busy on these days. The last time he had been left alone on one of these days, a student had wandered off from the group, apparently he was a bit of a toruble maker. He had found the gravity room, and curious as he was had slammed the button on the side, opening the door and shutting down the gravity, right in the middle of one of his training sesions. Or right in the middle of his very long training session that was his life to look at it another way. Anyway, the kid had been lucky to survive, Vegeta was that much of a headcase. Luckily CC was at the forefront of a wide spectrum of technolgies, including medical science, and he had escaped without any permanent damage. A healthy cash settlement was required also of course, but just a drop in the ocean for Bulma's billions.

Gohan rapidly reached his destination, and descended quickly, far too quickly for any of the dozens of babbling students to notice. They weren't looking for flying teenagers in the air anyway, humans never noticed what was going on around them if it wasn't part of their own little world, particularly teenagers. Gohan looked over to them quickly, they looked to be his age. Normally Bulma only allowed only students to participate in these vsits, and only from schools she thought were centres of academic excellence, as she put it. None of those kids looked like much int he brains department, but Gohan knew from previous visits they never did. He entered the building through a family entrance at the side and unconsciously walked to the training room they always used.

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Bulma led one of the groups around the various aspects and areas of the company herself, she always did. This one was from Orange Star High, supposedly a strong school from Satan City. She know found herself in the corridor outside the gravity room. The muffled noises of Ki blasts being strewn about the room, and the general noise of battle were emanating from inside. The students were always curious about this. "What's behind that doo Mrs. Briefs?" One of the group asked.

"That is the gravit room." She answered simply, inviting more questions.

"Why is it called that?"

"That room can simulate gravity."

"What for?"

"In this case, it is used for training, martial arts training in particular." A girl named Videl Satan had been listening intently up until this point, but know it rose to even higher levels. She decided to put her two cents in. "Excuse me Mrs. Briefs, but how much gravity can it simulate?"

"Even I am not sure of it's absolute limits, and if I did, you wouldn't believe me. But it is far higher than any human could survive under." She answered with a smile. Her smile quickly vanished however, when she heard the swish of the door opening, and gasps from the female half of the audience.She turned to face it, a look of horror on her face. What if Vegeta was a little bit angry about the twenty teenagers in his line of sight. She was calmed by Gohan's look. It told her not to worry, he had him under control.

"We're getting food woman." Vegeta growled.

Videl stared at the two as they stood framed in the door, and began speaking in low tones in a language she didn't recognise, but which she thought sounded quite beautiful. She had seen Vegeta Briefs before in magazines, the husband of Bulma Briefs, he was said to be extremely dangerous. She had noticed in those pictures he seemed to have black eyes and his hair stood vertical and had always wondered if it were true. _Black eyes?_ Who had entirely black eyes? She saw now that he did indeed have those features. She than let her eyes drift over to the other present. He didn't look any older than her and her classmates, and she silently admitted to herself that he was probably the most handsome male she had ever laid eyes upon. He definitely bore a resemblance to Vegeta, with the gravity defying hair, although his had one lone lock falling between his eyes. Which were of course black again. This similarity wasn't familial though, it was something else, somehting she couln't quite place. They were both now striding towards the group, and her eyes trailed down the teenagers naked torso, and she let out an almost silent gasp, he was incredibly well built, with a slim waist and broad shoulders, but he wasn't overbuilt like some of the idiots at her father's dojo, or indeed like her father. She noticed they both seemed to carry themselves very gracefully like accomplished martial artists, she had seen this enough times before to see it, but it was almost, dare she say it, inhuman. This added to the strangeness of their visages along with the language they continued to speak in. They continued, completely disregarding the students, until the younger suddenly looked over at Videl and she felt his gaze boring into her eyes, fiery coals burning into her. She began to feel incredibly hot and felt herself redden and hastily turned away. The two turned a corner before they reached the group, and she distinctly heard Vegeta Briefs say, undoubtedly in English "Baka Humans", and the other chuckle as they walked off.

* * *

I wrote this fairly quickly so some of it might be a bit wrong, but I'm fairly happy with it. As forthe black eyes bit, I know a lot of people, Japanese in particular have very dark eyes, but I'm not sure humans canhave black eyes, I know I've never met anyone with them. Anyway, even if they can, in this world they can. 


	6. Reciprocated

Videl continued to stare at the spot she had last seen the two males, completely transfixed. The older was obviously this Vegeta character, but of the other she had no idea. Could he be Vegeta's son? No of course not, the public would know about it, they always did. Trunks Briefs' face was almost as famous as his mother's, so why would this other son be so secretive. But then again, he was famous predominantly because he was Bulma Briefs' son, not Vegeta's. Could this other be an offspring from another relationship? No, she instantly surmised, there was absolutely no similarity between them that suggestd they were family, apart from the hair on end and the black eyes. But it wasn't as though there weren't huge differences between the two in terms of these features either. Vegeta had ridiculously long hair that added an extra foot onto his height, but the other's was slightly less egregious, and kept itself to normal standards that would be seen in public, usually however with a bucket load of gel, but not in his case. And the eyes were so opposing in their emotions. She had thought they were similar at first glance, both seeming to hold cold, hard feelings. As she recalled that pair of eyes however, she remembered something that stirred in the taller of the two as he stared her down, something that was obviously not present in Vegeta's. There was an underlying softness in them, the hardness was just a front to hide more emotions hidden underneath. How she could tell all this she did not know. She had never been much good at reading emotions before, so why know?

Someone suddenly piped up with a question. "Erm, Mrs Briefs, who was that?"

"You may all of heard of my husband Vegeta, he has gained quite the reputation in the media. The shorter of the two was him. The other was an old family friend, my Godson I suppose. I knew his father from a very early age." She seemed to think this was enough, inviting further questions.

"What's his name?" Videl mentally slapped on her forehead for her classmates stupidity. What did it matter? What are you going to do, track him down and ask to go out on a date? Her other classmates obviously didn't agree with her view as they all mumbled in agreement. They must just want a name to put to the face in their little fantasies. She did find herself concentrating intently on what Bulma was about to say though.

"His name is Gohan and he is the same age as the majority of you before you ask." This time she answered the question that was clearly about to be asked before it was. "Now let us continue the tour, we still have a fair distance to cover." She began striding away. The class hastily followed, they did not want to miss the opportunity of viewing firsthand some of Cpasule Corporation's newest prototypes that had been promised.

Videl's best friend Erasa nudged her in the side. "Wow Videl, did you see that guy?"

"Yes Erasa I have eyes, and incredibly I was looking in that direction." Videl answered in an exasperated and sarcastic tone.

Erasa, always with a smile replied back, "no need to be like that you know. So what did you think of him, huh?"

"You know I don't care about things like that, I'm just no inter-"

"ested. Nonsense! I saw you staring, and I heard the little noises you made, those little gasps. I was beginning to think you didn't have a sexual bone in your body at all."

Videl stared at her friend open mouthed. She didn't realise what she had just said. Clueless, absolutely clueless. "What does it matter, I don't think anyone in our year have even had sex Erasa, except a couple of slu-"

"Are you calling me what I think you're calling me?"

"Shut up Erasa you've never had sex."

"Uh huh, just ask Sharpener."

"He fell over on his stupid little duck feet that he can't stand up properly on, right on top of you in the supply cupboard and landed with his hand on your chest Erasa. That hardly counts."

"Shut up you. Anyway, back on topic, I know you liked what you saw, it just took the best to get you going didn't it? And did you see Videl?"

Videl pondered on what she was talking about, she hoped Erasa hadn't seen more than she should have. "See what?"

"That guy, Gohan, he looked right at you."

"Yeah so, I bet he looked at everyone."

"No, he didn't, just you. He was looking you up and down after you turned away. I bet he likes you." She teased.

"Be quiet Erasa, end of discussion." Videl was suddenly aware of herself reddening slightly again. Had she been the only one he had looked at?

"So what was that funny language, French or something?" Videl sighed, this was going to be a long day.

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"Did you see those kids? Ha, gawping at you. Silly little girls, I don't know how Bulma puts up with them and why she insists on doing these tours in MY home."

"The Gravity room is your home Vegeta. This is just a house you like to wander into every so often for more food. It is Bulma's father's afterall, it's not like you actually own _anything _in this world. But I have to agree with you, I couldn't put up with their stupid questions and ignorance. I'd end up ripping someone's head off."

"I bet you wouldn't rip that pretty little girls head off though would you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I saw you, staring at that girl."

"So what, she was looking at me, I just looked back."

"Yeah looked into her eyes, then down her neck, around her shapely-"

"Stop Vegeta. Yes I was looking, she was a good looking girl."

"I didn't think you noticed those kinds of things."

"I'm not my father. I might be good hearted Vegeta, but I didn't take a blow that left me with no rational thought mechanisms to achieve it."

"The other girls were good to look at too, why didn't you look at them?"

'Because they weren't as good to look at as her.' He thought silently to himself. He thought back to her. He had felt the eyes of them all trail over him but had been drawn to hers, and only hers, instantly. She had the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen, perfect blue hues that went so well with her pitch black tresses that had flowed over her shoulders in two even pigtails. She seemed to be trying to conceal herself, and wore a simple large, white t-shirt that hid the undeniably perfect body that lay underneath. The spandex three quarter lengths contrasted this, as they clung to her slender legs impressively. Overall the attire seemed designed to give ease of movement. This, allied with the toned muscles that were visible and the confident posture her body took gave the impression she had experienced a great deal of physical training and exercise and was geared up to do more at any instant. Gohan's daydream was cut short by more of Vegeta's rambling.

"Don't you tell the woman about this, you hear. If she found about she'd probably think you were in love. You should of heard her after the boy was conceived." He proceeded with a high, prissy voice imitating Bulma. "Oh Vegeta, I love you, I never thought I'd find true love, blah blah. Nonsense! Pathetic Nonsense. There is no room in the world for love. Just procreation. That is all that matters. The continuation of the Saiya-Jin race." Gohan peered over at Vegeta who was now red in the face from his tirade. He would never say any of that in front of Bulma, and Gohan knew Vegeta did indeed believe love existed and he was deeply in love with her. "And heaven forbid your mother found out. I'd never hear the last of it. She'd be asking ME all about it. And the less contact I have with that harpy the better." Gohan couldn't care less about the insult to his mother, it was Vegeta's way, and he had quickly got used to it after he had first met him.

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It was now approaching September, a new school year was about to begin. Chchi had slowly come to the realisation that a note from the homeschool of Son Chichi stating her twin son and daughter were intelligent enough to teach classes at university let alone take them was not enough to get them a place there. She had therefore decided the best plan of action would be to send the two to highschool. Her ulterior motive was of course to steadily reacclimatise Gohan to general human contact. Mika had her friends from the local town, but she would be needed to keep Gohan in check. Therefore they would be attending highschool for the last two years of it's course to attain the needed qualifications. Gohan had protested viciously at the idea, despite Mika's support for her mother's idea. The argument had raged for almost an entire week, neither side backing down, until one final comment from Gohan about his mother controlling his life caused a slight upset to Chichi and she had stormed off crying, mutterings of only doing what's best emanating from her. Gohan had followed, and hastily agreed. Anything to shut her up. She had immediately stopped crying, as if she hadn't been doing it at all. Hmm...

So, Mika and Gohan were now prepared for the beginning of the term. Gohan was clad in what could be termed 'normal' clothes, out of a fighting gi or the tradtional things his mother bought him but Mika's attire was not something he approved of. As much as he had been assured by Bulma that what they wore was to be expected of people thir age, he was not so sure. Mika had always worn clothes that would have suited the city, but now they took on an altogether more feminine approach. Tight jeans and revealing tops that he was sure would attract the attentions of the wrong sort from the male half of the school populus.

They both set off together, flying towards Satan city, after giving their farewells to their mother and brother. The two flew in a comfortable silence, the twins always at ease with one another, possibly knowing each other better than any others did on the planet, despite thier differences. They were the only teenage demi-saiya-jins in the universe after all. The flight was fairly short, despite Mika's lack of flying practice in the last seven years, lasting only about thirty minutes. They landed a fair distance from the school, in a deserted street, and began the trek to the grounds.

"What happens today then?" Gohan asked bluntly.

"Didn't you listen to a word mom said?"

"Nope."

"Well, when we get there we'll need to report to the office. I think we have to take an exam with all the other new kids, then they allocate our classes on that. I'm guessing they'll put us in the advanced group, they won't skip us ahead though, no matter how good we do."

"Damn, I was hoping we might be too smart for this dump and they would just let us go on our merry way."

"You know, this place is pretty nice, really modern. You'd know if you came to the open day, but no, you're too _busy_ for something as trivial as that."

"I _was_ busy. I had stuff to do."

"You were sat around at home because you're just too plain lazy."

"Yeah yeah." Gohan turned so his eyes faced front. The school was now coming into view, looming up ahead. It was about four stories high, a rather large building resembling an archway on it's side, with a garish orange star on the front side of the structure. Other students were milling about, most in small groups, many at first seemed to be resembling small cliques that had been formed over years of schooling together. There were all the stereotypical high school students present, most denoted by their chosen clothing. The majority were wearing similar clothing to himself and Mika, but there were some with glaring differences. At the moment four or so males were passing him fairly silently, murmurings being emitted. They were clothed in all black, some had large leather boots, there were chains all over them, piercings, and they all seemed to have make-up on. Make-up on boys! He was about as surprised now as when Vegeta had been when he had found out men wore pink shirts on this planet. There were of course the obligatory sportsmen, wearing jackets emblazoned with the school's logo, and cheerleaders with similar markings. The two siblings made their way up to the front steps. They were receiving stares from a great deal of the surrounding teenagers, partly due to the fact that they were two new pupils, obviously twins, and partly due to the overwhelming good looks of the two. Luckily for Gohan none present in the vicinity were any of those who had glimpsed him at Capsule Corporation, it was a good job for the moment he didn't know it was the same school.

Proceeding to the office, Gohan held back and allowed Mika to take control, he wouldn't get very far if the secretary proved to be infuriatingly annoying. "Hi, I'm Son Mika and this is my brother Son Gohan. We're supposed to be starting today."

"Ah yes, you're the only new ones in this year group, just wait down the hall in the reception area, there should be enough seating."

"Ok, thanks a lot." The two carried on to the waiting area. There sat about a dozen others, all looked younger than they were. People mustn't switch schools so much when they get older they both thought. Most of the others seemed fairly nervous, but Gohan and Mika took up the two remaining seats and sat with the air and confidence about them that came naturally with their genetics and experiences in life. The fact that Chchi had educated them up to university level did no harm either. A few minutes later, a member of staff began taking students out of the area and leading them off to seperate rooms in terms of their age to take the tests. As the oldest, Mika and Gohan were left until last, but it wasn't long before they were led off. A teacher was already waiting in the small, cramped room that barely fitted the three desks that sat inside it. The teacher introduced herslef and motioned for them to sit down and handed out a paper to each of them. She then took a seat at the front. "You have an hour, I expect that will be sufficient time. Pencils are ready on your desks. Begin." Gohan turned over the sheet and read the instructions. Ah, multiple choice, the downfall of education systems all over the world. He then perused the questions. Piece of cake. He turned to Mika, an eyebrow raised. She returned with a grin. Obviously she thought it was easy stuff too, and he began lazily marking the boxes.

They finished witin a minute of each other, much to the teachers surprise very early, far early than the time allowed. They were permitted to talk between each other while the papers were graded automatically. "Full marks?" Gohan questioned.

"Naturally. Piece of cake."

"My sentiments exactly."

The teacher suddenly came over to them. "This is most unexpected. Now, I know neither of you cheated because I was watching you both the entire time, but you both scored 100."

The two looked at each other in mock surprise. "What an unexpected twist, who would have thought it?" Gohan mocked in his oft used sarcastic tone.

"Naturally this means you will be placed in the advanced classes for each of your subjects, except for physical education where the entire year group takes it together. That exam was fairly comprehensive, you will not need to take one for each individual subject."

"I should hope not." More of Gohan's insolence was showing through.

The teacher continued as though she had not heard him. You will be assigned a form class where you will be registered every morning and afternoon after lunch. From there you will make your way to you lessons, three in the morning and two in the afternoon. If you would follow me we can get your schedules and maps of the school." She led them back to the office, where she bade them farewell and left them with the secretary from earlier. She presented them with the promised schedules and maps and informed them of the location of their form room. Since it was the middle of the morning, they couldn't just walk right into classes, they had to wait until formroom after lunch. Therefore, two hours of waiting around doing absolutely nothing awaited them. They busied themselves for a while in reception, where Mika talked animatedly with the secretaries, and Gohan was happy enough to content himself with his own thoughts. Could he take two years of this? He knew university would be easier, the independence granted would allow him to keep himself from his peers, but here he would be around them constantly, all immature, ignorant to the world teenagers. He knew he was generalising, but in truth most of them were like that in some form or another. And his mother was probably expecting his to come home with a girlfriend! What a laugh. From what he had seen this morning, there wasn't anyone worth his effort in those terms. Not in the looks department, there had been plenty of more than half-decent looking girls here, but all of them instantly came across conceited, vain and immature. This was all gathered from first glance. He had always been able to do that. He had done it when he saw that girl too. How often had he caught himself daydreaming and thinking of her. Her image was burned onto his retinas. He knew from first glance she had been different. She seemed confident and proud, but that was a well-founded confidence and was not the girl thinking too highly of herself. But what were the chances of finding her in a world of over 6 billion people. All he knew was that she went to school in fairly close range of Wewst City, Bulma only invited schools fairly close. Of course he could of asked Bulma where that group had been from but he knew he would end up going after her. That was dangerous. He didn't need anyone worming their way into his affections, even as much as he wanted her to. He had built his barriers long ago, Goten and Trunks had squeezed in on obvious merits, they were family. It was insane, he didn't even know her name, but the last three months of his life had almost entirely been dominated by her.

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"Hey Videl, we've got a few newbies in our year this time." Erasa choked this out as she had just ran full pelt to catch up with her oldest friend.

"No I didn't, and I'm not too bothered. Why is it so important that you have to tell it to me first thing in the morning before even a proper hello." Videl replied. She really didn't care, just a few more to add to the ranks of this school's idiotic lot of students.

"_Hello._ Yeah, just two, brother and sister, twins apparently."

"Oh really?" She feigned interest for the sake of her popularity obsessed friend.

"Yeah, rumour has it both are incredibly hot. Boy and girl."

"I'm sure." Videl's recognition of 'hot' had changed in the last three months. Before then, she had always known when someone was good looking, but she wanted more than looks. No one had even remotely interseted her in the looks department since then though, after that incident at Capsule Corporation. She couldn't get him out of her head. Gohan. His name, that was all she knew, and that he was about sixteen, the same as her. But how would she ever find him. She had always promised herself she wouldn't ever go for looks, but would find someone she could truly love. Despite his incredible appearance, she knew there must be something more drawing her in. Perhaps she felt, or rather knew he was a person she could truly love, in spite of her young age, and that the feeling was reciprocated.

* * *

I think I'm getting better, my writing has improved and the chapters have got up to a better length. I'm using the word 'mom' over 'mum' because I can't imagine it being used in this world, it doesn't seem right. And the story is still in the alternative world of DBZ, not our world, the references to languages are just for clarification of things. Chapter seven might be up in a few days, I've already started writing it. 


	7. Impact

The first hour of the wait for Gohan and Mika went by uneventfully, but the next hour promised to hold a little more excitement. It was after all, time for lunch. They were permitted to leave a little early, to avoid the rush and the hassle that came with it as a new kid. This was welcomed by Gohan, the less contact he had with the rest of them here the better. He realised that he had thought more about contact with the public today than in the last seven years, obviously spurred on by the close proximity of a thousand or so youths. Chichi had packed two hearty dinners fit for a growing Saiyan in capsules, and the twins proceeded to take their place in the grounds of the school, behind a large tree, hopefully to be seen by a select few. The cafeteria food would not suffice. As good as it probably wasn't, it would never live up to their mother's and the meagre portions would just break them out in fits of laughter. Overall, packed lunches were the smart choice.

The bell was heard by the duo from afar, signalling the rest of the teenagers to exit their classes. They could hear the rush of students out into the fresh air and steeled themselves for what was to come. Would they be bombarded by a thousand questions from the curious, studied from afar by those not so curious or left alone completely? Mika didn't care what the others did but as for Gohan they could just stay the hell away. A few began slowly walking past them, chattering in small groups and sitting down to pass the lunch hour. A few spotted them and the two received numerous glances from both males and females, for not only their looks but also their seemingly endless supply of food that was being consumed by these two new students that could hardly go unnoticed. After about three quarters of an hour, Gohan watched a girl with fairly short, blonde hair walk past. She looked oddly familiar. Beside her saintered a tall male with ridiculous, long blonde hair that Gohan only believed existed on women. He laughed out loud at this, surprising even himself. The two turned quickly upon hearing the noise, and the girl placed a hand up to her mouth, which she then subsequently to her side. He saw her mouth the words 'oh my god' slowly, as if in a trance, stare for a few more moments and quickly turn on her heel, dragging the boy back to the building. "Weird." Was all Mika could say. Indeed it was thought Gohan. How familiar she had looked. The hair reminded him of one of the girls with that group at Capsule Corporation, he hadn't really paid attention to them, except one of course. Could it be that _this_ was the school they had come from? Nah, what were the chances, loads of girls had hair like that? He thought nothing of it. He turned to Mika. "We should get going, the secretary said we should report to her early and our formroom teacher would take us to the room after the bell."

"Yeah, I guess so, we don't want to miss anything."

"Heaven forbid." They both rose gracefully and walked back into the building.

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"I'm telling you it was him, Videl." Erasa was dragging Videl by the arm, who was not putting up much resistance.

"Look Erasa, it's just hard to believe, you know? Too unlikely."

"I know it was him, I saw him, right there in front of me, same eyes, hair, face, everything."

"Ok, let go of me, I'll follow you to where he was, alright, and then you'll see it was just someone else, that new guy must just look a bit like him." Videl suspected Erasa had simply been having a little daydream, imagining things. It wasn't like she hadn't done it before. She herself had long since given up the hope she might one day see him again, a slightly girlish hope she wished would exit her mind completely. He was best left to her dreams. Their argument continued until they began to approach the tree and Erasa fell silent as they rounded it.

"HA!" She called, turning back to Videl with a pointed finger at the base of the tree. "There they ar-"

"Are not. No one there idiot." Videl flicked the blonde on the forehead.

"Where the hell? They were right there just a few minutes ago. Tell her Sharpener."

Sharpener, who had remained quiet up until now looked at his friend. "They were there alright, but what does it matter, it's just some guy. The girl was a lot more interesting if you ask me." He let out a low whistle at his approval of her. "Now she was something to look at."

"What about me, aren't I your girlfriend?" Erasa questioned in an annoyed tone.

"I could have any girl in this school and I'm still with you."

"Yeah right, every girl in the school. She's the only one who'll put up with you. Come on, lunch is over, back to class you two." The argument over the existence of the two was continued until they were settled by their form teacher, who afterwards left for the new students who would be joining in their class.

"You'll see Videl." Was all Erasa could see.

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The two counterparts stood patiently, after enduring more glares as they waited in the foyer. Fairly soon, a tall, balding, but young man approached them from down the corridor.

"Ah, Mika and Gohan isn't it? Heard a lot about you two already. Full marks on the examinations the both of you. Incredible." He certainly was enthusiastic. "I'm Mr Walters. Nice to meet you." He held out a hand for them both to shake. "Now, if you'll both follow me, I'll show you your lockers, right next to each other they are, and then I'll take you to our formroom, it's room 17, not too far from here." He proceeded to demonstrate the way in which the lockers worked, but seemed a bit flustered despite the simplicity. It was indeed a short distance and they halted outside the aforementioned room. "Now, I'll go in, and settle them down, quite a rowdy bunch this lot, introduce you and then you might as well come in. No need to be nervous." They both nodded and he left them out in the hall. The class quieted down as he entered.

"Nervous?"

"No." responded Gohan.

Inside the room, Mr Walters was speaking to the class. "As many of you know, we have two new students this year, twins in fact, Son Mika and Son Gohan." That name hit Videl like a tonne of bricks. Gohan was not a common name. Erasa was nudging her in the side but she sat up impassively. It _couldn't_ be him. In a few moments this mystery would be resolved and she would be the one laughing at Erasa. "They both did incredibly well on the placement examination, both scoring 100 percent." Videl relaxed a little at this. People who looked like that never did that well academically. Well, no one did, up until now of course. "They will of course be placed in the highest sets and advanced classes, so only a few of you will work with them during the course of the year. Now in you come you two." Videl watched as the door creaked open and a strikingly beautiful girl walked in, with a natural, animalistic grace, and was drawn instantly to incredible dark eyes. Black eyes. Those same black eyes followed closely behind. Eyes that had haunted her so much of late. Her shock could not be more obvious, and her jaw gaped. All along, she had been wrong, Erasa had been right.

"See!" She hissed in Videl's ear. "I told you so."

As Gohan walked in the room he heard a few whistles at his sister from a sickeningly large number of males that he did not approve of. As he crossed the threshold his eyes were drawn instantly, in a flash, as they had done a number of months earlier, to a pair of exquisite blue eyes. They locked with each other, and he quickly caught hold of himself. How had he not seen this. The girl sat beside her was the one from earlier, and the one who had stood beside her outside the gravity room. It was so obvious now. He didn't let his eyes trail from hers, and she did the same. She seemed just as shocked as he was.

He held her gaze as Mr Walters continued. "Would you two like to introduce yourselves?" Mika looked over at Gohan who was locked in a heated staring battle with a girl whom she did not recognise. What could cause them to be looking at each other like that. He wasn't coming out of his little trance in a hurry, so she cleared her throat and began.

"This is Gohan and I am Mika. We've been homeschooled by our mother completely up until now, as we live a long way from any schools, East 429 Chik-yuu." Out of the corner of her eye she noticed how Gohan was still gazing at the girl who was gazing back, mouth open slightly. "And I'm sure we'll both enjoy school here." She turned to the teacher."

"Anything to add Gohan?"

"Not really."

"Well, we have two empty seats near each other, Mika if you would like to sit next to Erasa." The blonde raised her hand slightly. "And Gohan the one in front." They both proceeded to their seats, and Mika noticed the girl suddenly drop her eyes as they began the trek up the tiered classroom, and fumble with her hands underneath her desk. Gohan's lingered for a little longer on her pretty face.

Videl looked back at Gohan. He simply raised his eyebrows at the boy next to him in acknowledgement when he had greeted him. He wore loose jeans and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a white t-shirt underneath, and carried a sand coloured messneger bag. A look of casual indifference. In her current shocked state she was very nervous. And she never got nervous. How could this one boy make her get like this. Especially considering the fact she didn't even know him properly. He didn't even know her name. She was broken out of her thoughts when Erasa addressed her, introducing Mika.

"Hi." The girl said. Videl looked up at her. She really was astonishingly pretty. At first when she had walked into the room, Videl had struck her off as another fashion type girl, probably had an inch of make-up on. As she saw her up close she noticed she wore no cosmetics on her face at all, she didn't need them, and the clothes she considered a little too 'sluttish', for want of a better word, were not as revealing as she suspected, and in fact kept a great deal hidden, much to her approval. They were probably the type of thing she would consider wearing herself, if she didn't prefer her training clothes.

"Hi. I'm Videl." She said cheerily, jumping out of her almost mournful state. She didn't reveal her surname, this person didn't seem to recognise who she was, as Mr Satan's daughter, and she wanted to keep it that way.

"That's Videl _Satan." _Erasa almost silently whispered. Erasa you imbecile. A look of knowing danced across Mika's eyes, and she did something most unexpected.

"You poor dear." She remarked, amused.

"What!" It wasn't a reply that suggested she was offended, but one that suggested she was in agreement with her sentiment.

"Well, it's just that I see your father on television a heck of lot of the time, he must be away from you a lot. And, not to be offensive, but he is a tad annoying."

Videl gave a dry laugh. "Just a tad." The conversation continued onto the topic of Mr Satan's most recent television performance Mika had seen. Videl had never spoken of her father in this manner as openly as this before, as no one had dared even think of him as a complete buffoon in the way she saw him. Mika obviously had no qualms in speaking of him in this manner. She glanced down at Gohan. She had actually not thought of him since she had began speaking with Mika, something she was thankful of, she didn't want him invading her head every minute of the day. He currently had his head flat on the desk.

Gohan was busy thinking of how complicated things had become. Luckily for him the boy beside him was busy speaking to the other beside him and he was free to mull things over. He desperately wanted to turn and look at the girl whom he heard was named Videl, from the introduction given to Mika. She was talking animatedly with her, and an obvious bond was there. He wanted to get her out of his head, but was struggling. He wanted to get to know her, just to see her would be enough to satiate him, but his mind told him not to. He didn't need love or friendship and he certainly didn't want it. His heart had grown cold and nothing would warm him up, nor did he want it to. He was happy in his rut, which had been callously disrupted by his mother. If Mika struck up a friendship with her he was afraid it would mean he would be forced to see even more of her. This certainly was a confusing situation. He kept his head on his desk as they went on, comparing schedules and other nonsense normal people did. Mika and he were in a couple of the same classes as Videl. Woohoo. At least she had some brains in that pretty little head of hers. He was brought out of his reverie by the ringing of the bell in his ears and quickly strode out of the room to wait for Mika. He regretted his decision as every pupil looked at him as they passed, which he had to dismiss with an angered look of his own. Eventually she exited almost last, with Videl, the blonde Erasa and the boy with girly hair he had seen earlier. He caught Videl's eye accidentally and she quickly looked away in a nervous manner. The halls were now buzzing with students.

Videl groaned as she saw a generally hated figure of the school come striding down the hallway, flanked by a couple of males similar to him. Jaycock had been held back more times than Videl could remember and he now looked about twenty nine. "Look out for that one Mika. He doesn't have any problems with groping girls in broad daylight, nor punching their lights out. To be honest I don't know why he isn't in prison." She warned.

"It's alright, I've got Gohan." Videl glanced quickly at him. She hadn't forgotten his status as a fighter.

"Well, see you later, we're in the opposite direction to you." With that, they parted and went their separate ways. Only seconds later, Videl turned quickly as she heard a voice she didn't want to hear say what she heard.

"What do we have here. A nice pretty new girl." He drawled. He didn't seem to take notice of Gohan, who leaned up against the lockers, arms crossed. Most stopped to watch the scene that would ensue. Videl began walking back towards Mika. Maybe now was the time to sort him out.

"Out of my damned way, before you get hurt." Mika warned. She pretended to get past one way, not really trying, but Jaycock pushed her back, grabbing her in the process quite illegally. Videl watched Gohan. He just stood there with a smile on his face. What was he doing?

"Aren't you going to help her!" Videl cried to Gohan.

He looked at her with that smirk. "No, she can handle her own problems." She was shocked to say the least. It certainly didn't seem she was capable of handling this rather large problem that stood in her way.

She started forward, she was going to have to step in herself. Mika seemed to know what she was about to do however and put a hand out behind her back to stop her. "Don't interfere Videl." She stated in a cold, confident tone. In a flash, she had Jaycock pinned against the lockers, beside an unflinching Gohan who was now studying his fingernails as if a treasure map was engraved on them, uncaring of the scene beside him. Mika's forearm was below her prisoners chin, suffocating him, and a knee was embedded between his legs, raised as it had just struck in a particularly sensitive area. "Do you want a kiss?" she questioned softly. Videl was puzzled by this, but suddenly Mika gently grazed Jaycocks cheek with her lips, who mumbled incoherently. She pulled back and continued in the cold tone from earlier. "Don't ever touch me or anyone else like that again." She released his throat, and allowed him to slump against the lockers before hooking him hard across the jaw. He fell to the floor unconscious. He had really annoyed her, and had not had a chance to let her temper out on anyone for a long time. Just imagine how insane Gohan would be if he didn't kick the crap out of Vegeta every few days, she thought to herself. With a sigh, she continued on her way to cheers from the females, and wary glances form flinching males. Gohan looked over to Videl, who looked understandably awestruck. He simply shrugged his shoulders at her.

The Sons had definitely made an impact.

* * *

I should be arrested for changing character perspective so many times, it's confusing and annoying but there was no other way. I also realised I used at least three different ways of saying 'saiyan' in previous chapters, even in the same sentence! Stupid. I've decided to use Saiyan, since I'm not Japanese, and it's so much easier to write. Also, some may have noticed how Gohan's character seems to swing about a lot. That is sort of intentional, he is supposed to be a little unhinged to say the least.


	8. Running

"Did you enjoy yourself? That poor, defenceless young man." Gohan wasn't in the least bit surprised at what Mika had just done, he had expected something of the sort, but being honest, he had thought it would have been much more likely if it had been him who had smashed that unlucky souls face in. As it were, he was happy enough that the school populus knew they were not to be trifled with.

"As a matter of a fact I did. From what Videl said he had it coming to him." Gohan's thoughts were forced back to the black haired beauty that had departed in the opposite direction. He had still not spoken to her, just given her a shrug of the shoulders. He wasn't quite sure what she thought of him. How could he know whether she was attracted to him to the same level that he was attracted to her? She had held his gaze for an exceedingly long time in the classroom, as well as at Capsule Corporation. But was that just a result of him looking at her? This was so complicated. Surely two people, even if they were compatible with one another in such a way that they were capable of spending the rest of their lives together didn't have a connection to each other like he seemed to have with this girl. To be so drawn to one person, and one alone surely wasn't normal for human beings. Perhaps the fact that he wasn't a human being had something to do with it. He had always suspected there was more to Saiyan relationships than to human ones. His mother had had an almost unhealthy obsession with his father for over six years before she eventually tracked him down. And as for Bulma and Vegeta, well they were a case. How could two people be so perfect for one another but still harbour so much anger at each other. Never before had Gohan seen two people fight verbally - he hoped - to the extent they did. They seemed to have had an attraction when they first met, even at the tender age he had been at on that fateful trip to Namek all those years ago, he had been mentally mature. The furtive glances between the two, and the not so furtive, obvious looks they had shared. Were the ones he himself had shared with Videl been the same thing? If so, was Videl supposedly the person he was destined to spend the rest of his life with? He would have to keep quiet about this. He certainly didn't want to think about that, as he had said to himself hundreds of times before, he didn't need that sort of love, he could just leave the school without bating an eyelid and never think of her again, couldn't he? All he had to do was to erect his facade of complete indifference to the world and she, along with all others would be pushed away.

The two followed the maps to the uppermost floor, where the majority of the advanced classes took place. Physics was the first of the afternoon, and the initial of their high school careers. They arrived at the laboratory, S-1, in time for the start of the lesson. As they had expected, this was a small class, only a dozen or so participating, including themselves. Most seemed to be typical high school intellectuals, a number of them stereotypical geeks. Mika was already chatting away excitedly with one who kept pushing his glasses back up his nose, already moving onto theories they would hopefully be discussing this year. Gohan sighed. He'd always loved studying, it allowed him to escape his troubles, but that had been in the comfort of his own home, surrounded by the chirping birds and rustle of leaves in the wind. Here the chatter and banter of children along with the noisy roads skirting the school didn't owe much to a perfect educational environment. He would just have to get used to it. After a few more moments, the teacher arrived. He was short, around fifty years of age. His bushy brown moustache quivered as he spoke and his comb over was barely concealing his bald patch. He outlined the subject topics they would be working on this year. Some difficult themes, but nothing Gohan and Mika hadn't covered before, just enough to keep them interested.

As the teacher teacher set the class to a simple reading exercise, Mika leant over to Gohan. "Guess who Videl's father is Gohan?" She said excitedly.

"Who?"

"None other than the world champ. Mr Satan. Can you believe it?" No, he couldn't. First of all, how could someone who looked like him produce something like her? However, as much as he didn't care about Mr Satan's taking credit for the whole Cell thing, he did not like the man. If he was capable of doing something like that he must be one of the most dishonourable and deceitful humans on the planet. That would probably have rubbed off on his daughter too. Excellent. If he thought she wasn't a good person,he wouldn't desire her as much. "Of course, she's nothing like him, doesn't seem to like the man a great deal." Great, thank you dear sister. "And what was going on between the two of you? Couldn't take your eyes off each other when we walked in."

"It's nothing."

"Didn't seem like nothing to me."

"We've seen each other before, alright."

"What? Where could you have met?"

"It was one of Bulma's tour days, with the schools. She was on it and her entire group saw Vegeta and I exit the gravity room."

"So that's why the blonde did that when she saw us out on the field."

"Yep. Now, can we drop it? Back to physics." He ended the discussion.

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Now that Videl's classroom had quieted down, she had a chance to resume her thoughts. Obviously Gohan wasn't the only fighter in the family. Mika had lifted him clean off the ground before slamming him against the lockers as if he were made of feathers. Whether that action would make him learn was another matter. She had done the same years earlier and he had resumed his torment of the female population soon after. Perhaps the knowledge that there was another who could quite easily put him in a coffin with their bare hands might put a stop to it. She was intrigued now as to just how strong these two could be. She would certainly get a good grasp of their physical capabilities tomorrow in physical education.

She now thought back to Gohan. He had once again won their little staring contest, but this time she had lasted a little longer. She had had the chance to really fathom his eyes this time. His face had been stern, impassive and unemotional, but his she had been able to read his eyes a little. They were cold and threatening, obviously warding off any would be trespassers that tried entering his own world, but they appeared so pained, he looked almost like a shattered soul, someone who didn't seem to have much keeping them on their dull trudge through life. She was utterly shocked by what she saw in his eyes. She had seen that look before on the eyes of people who had attempted suicide, or those who were about to. He appeared even farther along than all of the others she had encountered however, so obviously something was holding him in this world. But what exactly could make himself believe he was so unworthy of life? He was an enigma to her, and when she looked at him she just wanted to stand up and go to him, to soothe the pain that resided within him. What perplexed her even more was that Mika seemed to hold none of this negative energy. Her eyes had been full of warmth, not just the traces of it present in Gohan's. And she was so eager and confident as she greeted her new classmates, while Gohan had sulked, and slammed his head on the table to escape the inevitable questions. She shook her head violently, drawing the attention of a few classmates with it. She had to get these thoughts out of her head, she had schoolwork to do!

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The afternoon's lessons progressed without any notable happenings, and Mika and Gohan had soon escaped the confines of the school and begun the flight home. "School wasn't so bad was it?" Mika asked hopefully."

"I suppose not, at least I didn't lose it. What would mother say. And you were the one who was supposed to be keeping an eye on me. Tut tut." He wagged a finger. "As if you could do anything to me anyway."

"All I would have to do would be to tell mom and she would sort you out. You couldn't go long at all without her cooking."

"I've spent years away from her cooking."

"Yes, and that makes you need it even more." She quickly changed the subject. "Tomorrow should be interesting. Physical education."

"We'd better hold back, don't want to attract too much unwanted attention. Let's just act like stereotypical geeks, alright?"

"NO WAY! I'm not being someone I'm not. If I'm good at sports I'll be damn sure someone knows about it. You know I'm not one to show off, but I'm not gonna sit around like some pathetic moron who refuses to even try."

"Fine, you do that. I'll sit around like a pathetic moron."

"Oh no you won't. People will see how fit and healthy you are, we have to wear shorts and t-shirt. How weird will that look?"

"I couldn't care less."

"Ah, but I know one thing you can't stand. Being shown up by me. You're never one to let me get too cocky, and I'm the same for you. We keep each other grounded. Who knows what I might do if I wasn't concentrating." She turned to Gohan, eyebrows raised. He was deep in contemplation. On the one hand he could remain inconspicuous by acting almost non-existent in physical education, or on the other he could continue on an even footing with Mika as they had always done. Academically, one had never truly outshone the other. In some areas perhaps, but those were made up in others. They would also be at exactly the same power if Mika had the ability to transform, if she had continued training that is, as he had.

As they approached their small home in the country, young Goten became visible as he waited patiently for their return. As he sensed and saw their approach he jumped to his feet and began bouncing on his toes. As they touched ground he jumped on top of the both of them, wrapping an arm around each, jabbering about how much he had missed them and what he had been forced to endure from Chichi in their absence. Gohan took responsibility and swept him into his arms and pacing back towards the house. The young boy was one of the main reasons he had remained on this earthly plain. He felt as though he had a duty to protect and raise the child as a father would, since he still thought of himself as the reason Goten didn't have his natural one. Many people, Chichi and Mika in particular had been worried what sort of relationship the two might of had when she was pregnant, and when it became clear he resembled Goku so much, they feared he would become cold and distant towards him to keep his painful memories at bay. Gohan himself knew that on occasion the smiles and good spirits he had around Goten were forced, but the majority were real. When he was in a bad state around Goten he would affix his mask, purely to keep him out of the presence of such feelings, he didn't want them rubbing off on the youngest Son.

When they entered the quaint house they were bombarded by questions from their mother. How did the test go? What classes are you in? How much trouble did Gohan get into? These were the main themes behind the questions, the third was one Chichi was most interested in. It was inevitable that he would get angry in some form, but it was a risk that had to be taken.

"Mika knocked the crap out of some poor guy." Gohan was quick to get the subject off himself.

"WHAT!" She shrieked.

"It was nothing, he made a grab for me, so I floored him, that's all, I'm sure you would of done the same."

"And why didn't _you_ sort him out young man?" Suddenly the topic was back on Gohan, much to his distaste.

"Look, it isn't like she needed my help, and getting beaten up by a girl gives much more of an impression than if it were a guy."

"It was fun mother, and he had it coming, apparently he has been doing it for years. I wanted to teach him a lesson."

"Weel, I'm glad that you two are always fighting for the side of good." She appeared appeased. "But just remember not to draw too much attention to yourselves. Except for your academic abilities of course." Chichi then proceeded to explain, for the umpteeth time, what their future's as scholors held for them, and of course the idea of fighting, even as the smallest of hobbies was disregarded. This went well into the night.

The next morning the entire family awoke relatively early, ready for the school day, including Goten to wave them off. Surely he wasn't going to do it every day? Anyhow, as the two advanced towards the city of Satan, gunshots and screams could be heard, particularly by keen Saiyan hearing. The two descended and approached a scene of almost mass panic confined in one street. People were running about wildly, obviously escaping the gunfight that had begun. The police had yet to establish a presence, and two gangs, who appeared very serious in their little turf war were duking it out at opposite ends of the street, ducking behind cars and vans. The two Saiyan twins stood lazily at the side, a stray bullet wouldn't even scratch one of them, even if caught off guard.

Mika sighed and turned to Gohan. "We should help you know, sort them out before someone gets hurt."

"Who cares? If they are so willing to try and kill each other, let them die."

"We don't have time to argue, if you won't, I will." Before she could move, she was thrown headfirst into an alleyway, and Gohan was bearing down on her.

"I'll sort it, you can't transform, and I don't want either of us seen doing anything weird, OK?" He dropped his schoolbag, quickly remodeled his appearance into a super saiyan, and shot out into the open air. He swept down onto the first group, the larger of the two. He noticed one had already been shot and was bleeding from his left shoulder. Another six inches across and he would be dead. Were they really prepared to die for this cause? Before they knew what had descended upon them they were out cold, and he proceeded onto the bemused group at the other end, who appeared to think they had just won the battle. Gohan however knew he was the only one going to win this little three way, and dished out the same punishment to the others. The only one left conscious was the injured male, who didn't appear much older than him, who he didn't wish to damage further.

Gohan suddenly materialised behind Mika, just out of view in the dank alleyway, in his normal state. "All taken care of, now are we all right to continue now I've done my good deed for the day?" Back to his thoughts, Gohan mulled over his plans for the day. Of course he would have to keep a close eye on Mika, but more importantly was the situation with Videl. Already he was attracted to her, and he had decided the best way to quell that attraction, and still maintain the ability to remain in the same room as her would be to simply push her away. If he was as distant as possible with her, and if needed nasty, surely she would quickly have a good reason to leave him be in return and have nothing to do with him. As for himself, it would be easy. He had learned years ago to control his emotions and feelings when it came to the soft side of things, like love and affection, so he could do it with her too.

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Videl thought back to what she had seen earlier in the morning as she flew to Orange Star high. All those bright blue eyes could see from her yellow jetcopter at first was a golden blur moving too quickly for the naked eye to see correctly. As it moved through the criminals, they had dropped unconscious. The blur stopped abruptly as the last of the gangmembers slumped to the ground. Much to her surprise, although for the life of her she couldn't think what else it could have been, it was a person, a he to be exact, a young looking one. She was unable to pick out his features from the great distance, apart from the golden hair and shimmering glow about him, and saw the plain black t-shirt and dark pants that he wore, which seemed even darker in contrast to the glow of the boy before he disappeared form her sight, much to her confusion.

Inside the building, she saw Mika and Gohan approaching down the hall towards their lockers, and greeted them with a wave, which only Mika responded to. She was wearing similar clothes to the previous day, bright colours, not too over the top of course, colours that clashed with Gohan's pitch black shirt and jeans. Very familiar. Couldn't be him, she quickly concluded, as she looked around her and saw countless others in similar attire. And there was no golden hair, nor the aura that surrounded him. Well, there was an aura, just not bright golden and shining. It was dark and brooding, much like his eyes, and could be sensed coming off him in waves. Not to mention the fact that the incident had been a hell of a long way from the school, and she didn't even know if this Golden Boy went to school, let alone hers, if he wasn't a figment of her imagination that is. Maybe it was the police, now there's a laugh.

"Hi you two." She realised it was the first thing she had said to Gohan, in spite of it being aimed at both of them.

Mika responded with a "Hello" of her own, but Gohan just glared down at her, and his looming presence made her slightly unnerved. Both shrugging to themselves inwardly, the two females entered a discussion of their own, leaving Gohan to lean against the dull, grey lockers, and shut his eyes. This was harder than he thought it would be. In his mind, the thought of ignoring her was simple, but now in her presence he was already struggling with the pretence, barely five minutes in. Barely five seconds, in fact.

The bell sounded, abruptly bringing the conversation to a halt, whuch resumed however when Erasa joined the group. Gohan tailed the jibbering women to the classroom, where he took his seat and promptly landed a knockout headbutt to the poor tabletop. The morning's learnings began, so the two made their way up to the top floor briskly, as they had another science first thing this morning. After an hour or so of nearly demolishing the entire room, the young and heartily overeager chemistry tutor bade them farewell. For the rest of the morning, they sat through mundane language lessons, until lunchtime came around. Gohan once again found the tree they had sat beneath on their first day. He ate his food quickly, with Mika sat beside him, who stirred a little when she viewed Videl, Erasa and Sharpener coming towards them.

"Do you two wanna sit with us on the stands, we usually have a pretty good spot." Erasa asked.

"Sure! Gohan?" Mika replied. He simply turned his head in the opposite direction. "He's not much of a morning person, sorry." She apologised for her awkward brother.

"But it's half twelve." Sharpener put in. Gohan looked back towards the girly haired male. He certainly did not approve of the looks he was trying to steal up Mika's skirt as she sat on the floor. He held himself back, he could sort him out later in a subtler way than punching him right now and getting expelled for it.

"Well, he isn't much of a day person really. He would rather stay on his own I think." Gohan simply turned his head again. Mika got up and walked away with the other three. Gohan turned to watch them depart, and caught two pigtails swishing about as they turned with the head that held them back to look in front. He stood and stretched. The branch above looked inviting, and he reached up and pulled himself onto it. Sitting with one leg dangling precariously over the side, and back up against the trunk, he fell into a light doze, ready to be awoken by the clang of the bell, unseen by all but the keenest eyes.

He awoke with memories of an enjoyable dream concerning himself and Videl. His mind would not stop it's unconscious barrage on his willpower. After leaving his trusted tree he registered in his formroom and departed for his locker to retrieve his uniform for physical education. It perplexed him as to why they wore whatever they desired during classes, but had to wear the same orange shorts and white tops for running around in circles. He changed as inconspicuously as possible in the changing rooms, but was unable to avoid no jealous glances from a few fellow students. As he exited, the gym teacher for their class gathered them around and informed them they would simply be running around the school grounds five times, to get a general indication of fitness for the ease of the staff. The thirty or so of them gathered on the line, and the gym teacher shouted for them to begin. Gohan hung back and saw Mika running with the three she had sat with at lunch, and talk in Videl's ear.

"I'm just going to piss Gohan off a bit, doesn't like to be beaten, see ya later." Mika spoke to Videl with a grin. Before she could ask what it was about, she took off at a fast pace, quicker than anyone else. Then she heard a deep voice shout "Mika!" from behind her. She craned her neck to see who it was, and saw a fuming Gohan come crashing through the crowd. Mika turned and ran backwards, keeping her pace up surprisingly easily and stuck her tongue at him. He went sprinting after her. Of course they were going at less than a snail's pace compared to what they were truly capable of, but the class could not see that, and it seemed they were running at a veritable world record breaking speed.

Beside her, Sharpener mumbled something about the nerd acting like an idiot running off like that and how he would show him. Sharpener was obviously blind to another man's fitness because he hadn't noticed Gohan was as fit as a fiddle. Gohan quickly caught up to Mika, and the two wrestled a little as they eased into a run beside each other. Much to her astonishment, the twins kept their pace and even lapped her, twice, and the rest of the class even more so, as she was running with her two friends, who despite being fairly good runners were nowhere as fit as her, so she hadn't broken a sweat. Every time they passed they were bickering, which amazed Videl. Gohan had barely spoken two words in her presence while at the school but was just as involved as Mika in the arguments, and seemed very annoyed when Mika halted their discussions to say hello for a second before resuming each occasion they passed.

As the class finished their run, the coach informed them that after a quick rest they would be playing a few games of basketball.

* * *

Longest chapter yet, and I don't think I'll top it in size, for a while at least. The PE lesson will continue in chapter nine, and we'll see what Gohan has in store for Sharpener. It's nothing serious, or really funny,I just think it will be fun for me to write. 


	9. Logic

"All right, now class, to warm down a bit you can continue with a bit of light relief. A few games of basketball should do." Groans were emitted from some of the less able bodied children, who felt their quota of sport was now done after that run. A full afternoon of physical recreation seemed a bit too much like hard work. These groans were drowned out by the cheers of sporting types. Videl herself enjoyed basketball, her short stature usually made up by the fact that the entire student body was deathly afraid of her. Gohan looked like he really didn't give a shit what the rest of the world did, let alone the class as he stood there, hands deep in pockets.

"Now, how many are there?" The coach quickly scanned the numbers. "Perfect, dead on 30. Now, I'll quickly divide you up." He went around the class, putting them into six groups of five. He was kind in some cases, keeping some friends together, but others apart. Erasa, Videl and Mika ended up in one with two males, and Gohan, as reluctant as he was to bother with this game, was placed with two big boned girls, a scrawny kid who looked like he just needed a good meal once in a while and blondie himself, Sharpener. Apparently he thought Sharpener and Gohan would more than make up for the others probable lack of talent.

"Now." He seemed to say that a lot, Gohan noticed, "It's winner stays on, first to fifteen. Videl's team versus Moseley's first." The two teams moved forwards, but the game was over virtually before it had begun, none of Moseley's lot wanted to go too near Videl, in case they incurred her wrath. The same could be said for Mika, as the whole school knew about the previous day's events, and none, particularly the males wanted to touch her. The other teams had similar fates. Now it was Gohan's team, they were the last to face Videl before the cycle went around again.

Sharpener went up against Mika in the toss up, as they were the tallest on each of their teams. As they jumped for it, a jump which Mika won considerably easily, Sharpener got a bit too close for comfort, and decided it was appropriate for him to brush himself forcibly against her. Gohan was not pleased to see that Mika didn't bother about it, and played on regardless. As he stood there dumbstruck, the opposition scored, and the ball bounced to Gohan's feet. Sharpenercalled to him to pick it up. Ah yes, Sharpener, he would have to deal with him, himself. He picked up the ball and threw it to the blonde expectant arms. With a few sickening cracks, it passed through his fingers and smacked him straight in the face. His head snapped back, but he seemed uninjured and looked at Gohan rather appraisingly, having just realised Gohan was quite the sportsman in a sudden brainwave. He was blissfully unaware he was in for a great deal more ball to face incidents if he passed to Gohan too many times.

He threw it back to Gohan, who began walking up the court, dribbling the ball as he went. He deftly rounded a boy on Videl's team around the half way line and had a quick shot. It sailed soundlessly through the air, passing right through the hoop. Mika came back at him dribbling the ball, and his competitive side kicked in. She wasn't expecting him to be trying, so he quickly stole it from her and launched it at Sharpener who was running alongside the wall. The ball was travelling with far too much pace however and he misjudged it. It hit him square in the back, and he went headlong into the pale blue walls, landing flat on his back. He stayed on the floor for a second or two longer than gohan hoped he would, who was a little worried he may of done some permanent damage and overdid it a little. Well, not that worried, he had just felt his sister up. Gohan breathed a short sigh of relief when a few of his buddies helped him up moments later, apparently unscathed.

Gohan decide that perhaps enough was enough was enough, for now at least, and decided to show up Mika and her 'team' for her stunt on the track. And besides, he was a team player after all, and he would need some of his team to beat her. As Videl passed the ball to a teammate, Gohan intercepted and ran on to score from close range. This sort of thing took place for a few more minutes, with Gohan stopping every pass and distributing the basketball about his team. At one point he even allowed Videl to make it all the way to the net, before blocking a lay up she performed and having a sly shot for the fun of it. The watching class were shocked at this, no one had ever blocked a shot of Videl's before. He was actually enjoying himself playing sport, something he had never done before. Martial arts had been the only exercise he needed. It was probably just the sibling rivalry though, and he wanted to beat Mika at all costs. If he looked a little strange jumping a little higher than most people thought was possible, so be it. Mika seemed a lot less ready to do something out of the ordinary here at school as opposed to out on the street to prevent a little ground war.

The game was soon over, and Gohan and his rabble had beaten their adversaries quite comprehensively, but didn't have chance to continue their rampage further, as the day was over. The coach called the twins over at this point, and asked whether they might be willing to join any of the sports teams. Gohan had burst out in laughter for a split second, before composing himself, and stating his answer quickly. A solid "No" was all the sportsman received from him. Mika remained behind to explain the situation, with them living so far away, it wouldn't be possible for them to participate in such activities.

As Gohan approached the boy's changing rooms, much to his disconcertment, Erasa exited at a jog, sniggering with a black piece of cloth in her hand. Girls. He would never understand their complexities. He slowly began changing, it wouldn't make a difference if he left five miuntes late. Pulling his jeans up, he noticed someting was missing. His t-shirt was gone. His black t-shirt, that resembled the piece of cloth the blonde had been grasping. Sighing, he grabbed his things, and strode out of the room and down the hall in the diretion she had gone in, in the hopes of retrieving his shirt. A few lingering female students admired him as he advanced past them.

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"Erasa, why in god's name did you do that!" Videl screamed at her friend.

"I'm sorry Videl, I wasn't thinking." She didn't seem to truly regret her actions however, as she had a broad grin on her face.

"Sorry indeed." Videl snatched the shirt form her friend's grasp, and marched with her in tow back towards the gymnasium. She was walking fairly fast as she rounded the corridor, and completely missed the brand new brick wall that stood in her way. She fell back, stumbling over onto her behind. She looked up dazedly at the wall that had now transformed into the object of her secret desires, Gohan, half naked, as he had been when she had first seen him. He smirked down at her, amd she shook her head once again to remove defiling thoughts from her brain. She realised her predicament, as she felt the fabric of the black material between her fingers. "No... it wasn't me...honest."

Gohan reached a hand out out to help her up. He still had to maintain basic etiquette and manners had been drummed into him by his mother. Trying to ignore a girl to keep her out of your thoughts, as well as trying to prevent yourself from invading theirs was one thing, but knocking that same girl over and not helping her up was another, unexcusable one. She took his hand tentatively with her free hand, but miscalculated his strength. As he pulled her up she pushed with her other hand and her feet. This overbalanced her small frame, and she toppled forward. Gohan grasped her waist to steady her, but not before she had dropped his shirt in surprise and landed with both hands flat on his chest. She was now stood staring right into his chest, which caught her attention. Small scars criss-crossed across it, and his upper arms. She hadn't noticed these when she saw him the first time, but from only a few inches away, they were perfectly obvious. These were overshadowed by another, even more obvious scar that ran along his collarbone, shoulder and down his left arm, and became more subtle until it faded out at his mid-forearm. It was formed from a deep cut, and it looked like it had been there a while, and wasn't leaving any time soon. She looked sheepishly up at his face, where that smirk still resided. She gasped as he quickly lifted her up off the ground. He did it with such ease that left Videl dumbfounded, the inherent strength he possessed now becoming obvious through the strong but gentle grip he held on her with his large hands.

He turned around a hundred and eighty degrees and set her down on her feet gently, and released her. He bent down and picked up his shirt. Videl whispered, almost inaudibly, "sorry", but for what reason, she did not know, she didn't take the shirt. He nodded, turned on his heel and paced down the hallway out towards the exit. She could see similar marks on his back as he went, before he put his t-shirt back on, taking a little time as he had his bag to contend with while he did it. Videl thought to herself as he turned a corner. Why did Gohan have such scars all over his body? What sort of odd turn of events had he been part of? Some seemed much older than others, so obviously they hed been accumulated over a long period of time. Videl tried to force questions she desperately wanted answers for from her mind. Things like that were often not things people wanted to talk about, or to re-live, but it did add a great deal to the compartment in her brain labelled 'Son Gohan'.

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Gohan stood awaiting Mika at the school gates. He couldn't help but admit he had just slipped up, big time. He had managed to keep that arrogant smirk on his face the entire time, as if the situation had not affected him, but it had. Her sweet scent lingered in his nose. It was infused with hints of the shampoo she used, and even traces of perfum, even Videl took part in some women's luxuries, along with the natural aroma of Videl that only his sensitive Saiyan nose could detect. He had enjoyed holding her in his hands, she seemed so delicate, almost fragile, as if she would shatter if left unguarded, and he wished he could hold her like that for the rest of his life, but he knew he just couldn't. The feel of her tender hands on his flesh ha sent his hormones wild and his body had quivered under her touch. He had not forgotten how her fingertips lingered on his chest as they parted and grazed over him ever so lightly, sending him further into oblivion. It was clear she had enjoyed the contact just as much as he had. Without trying to sound dirty, he couldn't help but realise that things were just getting harder and harder by the hour.

He sighted his sister approaching, and she had somehow met up with the two girls who had taken his shirt, and Sharpener who had tagged along behind. Videl quickly glanced up at him, but looked down quickly, her face turning a slight reddish tint with blush. A high pitched beeping was emitted without warning, emanating from Videl's watched. She moved away a few yards, and Gohan saw her raise it closer to her face. He couldn't hear the words coming from the watch, but Videl was speaking and nodding her head along with the voice. She turned and ran past them, with a wave and threw her jetcopter capsule far ahead of her so it was ready when she arrived at it, and then swiftly took off.

"What was that about?" Mika asked, directed at either of the blondes.

"Oh, Videl helps the police sometimes, she is the daughter of Mr Satan after all."

"What? Isn't that a bit dangerous?"

"She has been doing it for years, she can handle herself fine." Sharpener drawled. Mika looked over to Gohan, who naturally seemed uninterested in the whole situation, but who she knew heard every word. She raised her eyebrows at him in a silent discussion when he looked back at her. He knew instantly she wanted to go and help.

"Well, we'd better be off, see ya tomorrow." Mika had begun jogging away, Gohan just behind. They turned a corner, and Gohan was off in a flash of golden hair and green eyes. He would have to take care of this one. Mika followed his ki at a slower pace, he would be able to sort it out alone.

Gohan himself could of followed Videl's ki, but didn't need to, he could follow her fragrance that wafted all the way back to him. Fairly soon, he caught sight of a small yellow vehicle hovering high in the air. It descended to land behind a screen of police cars, and he watched Videl exit as he landed quietly on a roof. She conversed with the man who was obviously in charge. He looked as though he had seen better days. Too many shifts behind the desk and a few too many doughnuts took it's toll on a person's health. As she was filled in on the situation, Gohan decided this was a waste of his time, he would just finish things quickly and be done with it. Winging his way down, he took in the situation. Two men stood by the doors, automatic rifles in hand, on guard. He could sense a few persons inside, four at most. About thirty feet from the entrance he landed and walked slowly towards the two sentries. They spotted him quick enough and began trying to warn him off. Their shouts drew the attention of the surrounding forces of good, who all whipped their heads around to see a teenage boy striding confidently towards the gunmen. Videl recognised his gold hair instantly, and he still had a slight glow around him, even without the blazing aura that had surrounded him that morning. She immediately started forward, intent on dragging him back before any harm came to him. She didn't think he would stand up to a hail of gunfire, even after what he had seemingly done earlier in the day. "Get back!" She shrieked at him as she ran to him, the police chief following close behind, having moved quicker than would be expected of a man his stature.

Gohan felt and heard Videl to his left and a little behind, obviously trying to haul him back to safety. He reached an arm around level with their current position, and with a flick of his wrist, they were hurled against a police van, causing the rest of the force to halt as well. The two men on the door now deemed his position close enough to be of considerable danger to themselves, so they opened fire. Round after round poured onto the Saiyan's wrist, which he placed directly in front of each and every bullet, he didn't really want a few dozen bullet holes in his clothes to explain to Chichi. As he continued his relentless approach, one of the men shouted into the building. Gohan wasn't worried, they had shot at him because he was a danger, but whatever hostages were inside, they were probably not given that status by the criminals. And how believable was it that a teenaged boy had just walked through that barrage of bullets. They appeared heartily afraid now, and bolted, directly into the arms of the awaiting police force.

He swung the heavy doors open to reveal the foyer of an office building. A middle aged man was sat in a swivel chair, dressed in a sharp suit, and a security guard sat beside him. They were flanked by two men carrying small pistols. They were clad in camouflage and combat gear, much like the two idiots outside. Proper little army boys, probably rejects.

"What the hell do you want!" He shrieked, shakily, obviously very nervous. He was now holding the gun close to the businessman's head, perhaps three inches away.

"I'm here to talk, we want to negotiate." Gohan said this in a soft but incredibly sarcastic voice.

The man seemed to pick up on his tone, and this angered him further. "I'll kill him, I'll do it!"

"No you won't, you don't have what it takes to kill a man. But do what you want, I don't care, I was just interested to see what was going on." The seated man paled quickly a Gohan's lack of care in the situation. The boy turned away and took a step back towards the exit. He was certain the man would realise how futile his efforts were, whatever cause they had behind them. He sighed, however, when he heard the tell tale sound of a trigger being pulled, the click of the hammer and a bullet escaping the chamber he disappeared from where he was being seen, and reappeared at the face of the gunman, who perhaps did have what it took totry, but fail, his palm placed in the narrow gap between gun and head. The bullet clattered to the ground amid the deafening silence. "Tut tut." Gohan's lack of compassion was still evident despite a man very nearly losing his life. He grabbed the gun in his hand and reached over to the other one, the man giving it up easily, his dazed state not allowing thought to occur. He grabbed the bad guys by the scruffs of their necks and beckoned for the prisoners to follow. He pushed the door with his foot, and dragged the men to police officers expecting a few more dead bodies, amid grateful thank yous from the security guard and businessman.

As he began walking away from the scene, a number of police officers, along with Videl motioned to fllow him. He turned around and raised a hand, mimicking the action he had produced earlier. They all took hasty steps back, wanting to avoid the fate that had befallen their chief and beloved Videl. As he turned into an alleyway a little way down the road, Videl gave chase, hoping to accost him in the narrow space. As she drew level, however, she saw nothing but dustbins too small to be hidden behind, and empty cardboard boxes. She moved a little further in, to investigate, and turned to see if he was now behind her, which he wasn't. She turned about again, wondering just where in hell he had gone.

As she did this, she felt two arms latch themselves onto her, lifting her off the ground. They were positioned with their upper arms underneath her armpits, and the forearms bent back so that she could hardly move her own, that now fell limply towards the ground. (Like Saiyaman had Videl in episode 'blackmail') She struggled with her body, but to no avail, he was just far too strong. It was the first time in recent years that she could remember encountering someone stronger than herself. Ever since she had got that 'lucky' punch through her father's defences when she was twelve, she had not sparred with him. And if she was honest, she was scared witless, this could be some psycho for all she knew.

"You shouldn't go wandering into alleys like that, guard down completely. You never know who you might meet, Videl." How did he know her name? His voice was familiar yet distant, but deep and smooth. His breath was tingling the back of her neck, making her hairs stand on end, but not in the way they would if she was creeped out. She was more excited than anything, along with her fear. "They could be completely-" she felt him move his head closer to hers, blonde locks falling into view out of the corner of her eye. So it was Golden Boy. "-and utterly-" he was now speaking lightly into her ear. She closed her eyes on instinct, and her stomach was fluttering about inside her "-Insane."

"Especially with you being so weak and all." This pulled her out of her odd thoughts.

"I am NOT weak!" she almost screamed at him, how nobody noticed them was anybody's guess. She once again tried to remove herself from his powerful hold.

"Oh but you are Videl. In the grand scheme of things you are frail, delicate and defenceless." He moved one hand down and wrapped an arm around her waist, and moved one hand slowly down the bare skin of her arm to come into contact with her small hands. She was frozen in position. His large hand closed around hers, and then his fingers intertwined themselves within hers, closing and opening their hands together. "I have you completely at my mercy, it would be so easy for me to take advantage of you, to have my wicked way with you." He chuckled into her ear at this point. "Be more careful next time." With that, he was gone, and she dropped to her knees, gasping for air. What he had said had been true, she had been foolish, and he could of done whatever he wanted to her. She had resisted with all the strength her body possessed, but he had held her in place with such ease. Not only had she been excited by that encounter, she had been aroused, which unnerved her no end, even though he could have raped her, although she knew for certain the thought of actually doing anything of the sort had never crossed his mind. After composing herself, she rose to her feet, and opened up the capsule for her jetcopter.

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As Gohan flew towards the ki of Mika that was approaching him almost at a walking pace, he thought back to what he had just done. He deserved a little treat, he had just done a good deed. His senses and emotions had gone into overdrive when he had transformed, especially when he had been around Videl. Perhaps a little incident like that every so often would help keep his emotions at bay, he surmised in the twisted logic that was his mind. And hopefully Videl would fall for her friend Golden Boy instead of Gohan, and of course she would never even find out who he was, let alone ever find him.

* * *

A bit more action between the two this time. At this point, Gohan is not in love with Videl, he just thinks he will be if he allows her to get close to him.

As for the 'half twelve' thing, that was me just typing without thinking. In my little corner of the UK, we say half twelve to mean 12.30. I don't think I have said half past the hour since I learned to tell the time. Thanks for bringing it to my attention Shadow Dreamer


	10. Cape

Gohan eventually met up with Mika as she travelled towards him at her gentle pace. They met in the air, high above Satan city, Gohan now back into his normal form.

"All taken care of?" Mika asked.

"Yeah, nothing I couldn't handle. By the way, I've been thinking about this situation. It can't go on as it is, some day, Videl is going to be able to tell who it is who's helping her, especially if she sees me wearing the same clothes as this guy."

"What did you have in mind?"

"I think we should speak to Bulma, see if she can rustle something up for us. Then you can help, I don't want to be the one who has to do this all of the time. It's a bit time consuming."

"I guess you're right, I would like the chance to help a little around here as well, we can't have you having all the fun." The two of them had now unconsciously begun flying in the direction of West Capital, the location of Bulma's transnational. "Did you tell Vegeta that you were starting school?"

"No, not yet. And I don't think I will. He won't care as long as I keep up my end of our deal and train with him like I have been doing these last few years. And I don't think I'll ever hear the end of it if I tell him. He'll be going on at me about 'weakling fools' and 'baka humans', as he likes to call them, and asking how I can stand to be in the same room as them for so long at a time. You'd think that he would lighten up a bit since his wife was one, and half of his son's blood was of the human race."

As they touched down on the lush, green lawns of Capsule Corporation, they could sense Vegeta and Trunks sparring inside, most probably in the Gravity room, one of Gohan's own favourite places of recent years. He had escaped his troubles in there so often. Vegeta and he had an unwritten and unspoken rule to never talk of personal things inside that room, a rule that had just appeared on it's own during their first training session. Gohan respected that the room was a symbol of Vegeta's desire for power, and that was all the room was for the man. It was not for psychology or talk. They both had troubled pasts, and they didn't infringe on each other's deepest privacies at all, let alone that room.

The entrance family and friends used to enter the building was open, so they stepped through the threshold into the building. Winding around the complex passage way of halls and rooms that was the residential section that the siblings knew so well, they came across Bulma fiddling with some of the appliances of her kitchen. She heard the two before she saw them, and looked up in anticipation to see what the two of them wanted, they hardly ever came over as a pair, normally Gohan on his own or Mika with Chichi and Goten. They sat down casually at the dining table, and awaited her response.

"What's up you two." The two looked at each other, and in silent agreement, Mika took the speaking role, as always in these situations.

"We were wondering, if there was a way you would be able to create a couple of disguises for us?" She got right to the point.

"Go on." She leaned forward onto her hands, elbows now on the table.

"Well, we both want to help out a bit around the city where we go to school , but we need to do it in a way that we can remain incognito. Gohan's already done it a few times while transformed, but it wouldn't be long before he would get recognised. It doesn't help when a girl from school, well I suppose she's a friend really, we get on pretty well, called Videl helps the police out. She would be around him all the time, in both forms, so..."

"So you want something you can have with you all the time of course, that you can change into quickly." She sat pondering for a second or two. "Ok, I have an idea, but it might take me a couple of hours, can you both sit tight here for a little while?"

"Yeah sure." Mika answered, for both of them.

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After Bulma had departed for whatever laboratory she thought was most suitable for her idea, Gohan and Mika made their way to the gravity room. Gohan was planning on having a quick spar with Vegeta, that would probably evolve into a full blown battle in a matter of minutes.

They knocked on the heavy door, the sound reverberating around the metallic corridor they were now situated in, as well as inside. The sounds of a fairly fierce battle abruptly halted, and the door swung open, Vegeta behind it. He must have sensed who it was behind the door, or else he would have completely ignored it, unless of course if it was Bulma. Behind him, Trunks was on all fours, panting for air, the complete opposite of his father who was currently stood completely calm and unaffected by his training.

"Pushing him a little hard aren't we?" Mika questioned.

"They boy has put up a dismal effort, it is his own fault."

"It's not my fault he's in such a bad mood." Trunks managed, between gasps.

"What're you talking about Trunks? Vegeta is always in a bad mood." Mika said with a devious grin.

"Just take the boy Mika, I'll have to get a decent fight out of your brother." Vegeta had begun using Mika's name when he had started using Gohan's, trying to keep them on an equal standing within his mind. She walked over to where the young Saiyan lay slumped on the ground, helping him to his feet. She then almost carried him off in the direction of the kitchen, muttering things about angry fathers and new computer games. Vegeta now turned towards Gohan, anger in his eyes. "YOU!"

Gohan was taken aback. What had he done? "What the hell is up with you. I know even your usual demeanor isn't enough to get Trunks into a state like that." Gohan looked down at the base of his t-shirt, where the Orange Star Badge was now pinned. He had removed it at the crime scene, but why he put it back on, he didn't know. Before he could take it off, to hide it from Vegeta, the Prince had reached out and torn it from the shirt.

"I know all about this, this _school!_ A waste of time!" The argument had now turned to the Saiyan language, which Vegeta preferred. "Just an infringement on training."

"How did you find out?"

"Bulma of course, and you were stupid enough to leave the damned badge on the front of your shirt. Idiot!" Gohan now fully entered the chamber, closing the door behind him. As Vegeta continued his ranting, he strode casually over to the console in the centre of the room, and turned the gravity up to 400 times gravity, a nice easy start to a spar. Vegeta had now finished with his shouting, a fight was always a better way to settle a dispute, however small. In his mind he knew that Gohan going to school wouldn't affect anything, that mother of his gave him enough work to do as it was. The two transformed into super saiyans, and began their twice weekly ritual of beating the hell out of each other.

After they had finished their brawl, and had a quick, but silent rest, they departed from the training room, heading for the kitchen, where the others were located. As they approached, they all looked up eagerly, they had obviously been waiting for a while, Bulma must have finished. They knew, however, not to interrupt one of Gohan and Vegeta's training sessions, which were far too intense to end on a whim.

Bulma began as they took their seats around the table. "Ok, I have three here." She held out three digital watches, each with two buttons on the side, one red, one blue. "I made three because I wasn't sure what you would be happy with Gohan. Two of them are basically the same, and the other is simply a gi. You can just transform if you like, but the different clothes should disguise you all right. It would make me very happy if you would try these first two before the gi one though, I want to see what they look like."

Gohan sighed. He would have been happy enough with the gi, who knew what Bulma had dreamt up in that lab of hers? "Give one here than."

Bulma's face brightened, she had hoped he would at least try wearing it, just for a quick laugh, before he vetoed the idea completely. She passed one to each of them. "All you have to do is put the watch on like a normal one, and push the red button, it's that simple." The two followed her instructions, and pressed the buttons on the watches at the same instant. Bulma looked overjoyed at the site, she obviously thought the outfits were respectable.

Gohan looked down at what he was wearing. A black spandex bodysuit was covered by a green tunic, which wasn't so bad in itself. His vision was darkened, he had sunglasses on. To cover his hair, a red bandana was used, which flowed down his back. A matching red cape was affixed to the tunic. That was the ridiculous part of the costume. Vegeta and Trunks had burst out laughing. One of the costumes on its own was not tto bad, but when two people wore identical ones side by side, they did not look particularly impressive.

As Bulma had fully expected, Mika did not disapprove, and was looking herself up and down in a mirror that Bulma had set up especially. "Stop laughing!" Gohan shouted. He wasn't really angry, and a rare smile graced his lips, the two of them must really have looked absurd. He strode over to his sister, while depressing the blue button on his own watch, and ripped the cape off her back forcefully. Now it looked respectable. She had been expecting something like that from him, so she didn't look too astonished.

"Can I have the other one Bulma?" He still had a smile on his face, but the reverie was over. She too didn't seem to mind Gohan ripping one of her inventions apart. She passed him the watch containing the gi with a smile, and he put it on quickly. It was one of the ones he kept at Capsule Corp, completely black, like the majority of his clothes, the ensemble he had worn on his first day at school had been a bit of a one-off.

"So, you two are effectively super heroes now, you need names. Got any in mind?" Bulma queried.

Gohan spoke up first this time. "I heard some people saying things like 'golden haired boy' and 'gold man' or something. I think we should just let them get on with it themselves. Name their own heroes."

"Saiyaman" Mika blurted this out as if it had been on the tip of her tongue all day.

"Excuse me?"

"I'll be Saiyaman."

"Saiya_man?_ But you're a girl Mika!" Trunks piped up.

Gohan looked over at Mika. Of course he knew it was girl under the costume, but for an onlooker from a distance, maybe she would get way with it. The tunic was baggy and concealed any curves she had, the bandana covered her long black hair and the large sunglasses blocked a great deal of her upper face from view. Perhaps if someone did see her up close they might just see her as a slightly effeminate man. One thing Gohan was sure of though, was that he did not want anyone, in particular Sharpener, to see her in just the bodysuit.

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The two flew back quickly towards their mountain village. They were already late, and didn't want to anger their mother further. They had agreed to not mention the 'superhero' idea, of helping out with crime in Satan city, because she would just get worried, both for their safety and the effect it would have on their schoolwork. Neither worry would be well founded though, nothing they could experience in the city could hurt them physically, and as for schoolwork, well they knew NOT to let that slip, under any circumstances, even if the end of the world was fast approaching.

As the house came into view, a small child could be seen playing in the well kept grass that surrounded the abode, as he had been seen the previous time they returned home from school. He was enraptured by the blades of grass and what was hidden within them, and did not notice two teenagers strolling up behind him.

Mika grabbed Goten from behind and lifted him onto her shoulders, as he giggled like the child he was. He had known as soon as the hands made contact with his sides who it had been, and his reaction had been made accordingly. He loved his brother and sister in equal amounts, but his relationships with his two siblings were very different. Mika had cared for him much like his mother had, from a very early age, and could be strict with him when she wanted to be, but would have fun with him all the time. Gohan, however, from all the understandngs he had of what a father did, was a father to him. He would always help him when he was having trouble with his studies, and would never get angry with him if he didn't understand it straight away. He would also take him out into the forest, where they would spar, or fish, or just play hide and seek, or some other game Goten wanted to play. Gohan told him stories of his real father, and he sounded great, just like Gohan, but he was more than happy with Gohan acting as his dad. Goten didn't really understand why people said Gohan was always sad, either. He always seemed happy enough when it was just the two of them, although he did notice the change around other people. Whichever way he looked at it, Goten had the perfect family life.

After taking a severe tongue lashing from their mother, for the smallest of reasons, the twins, along with the rest of the family sat down to dinner. The obligatory questions that were asked were answered, but the ones concerning what they had been doing after school being skirted around. Gohan especially didn't want anyone to know just what he had been doing in that alleyway.

* * *

The scenes in thischapter had to be done, and I'm sorry nothing that interesting happened, and that it is a bit shorter than some others,but I think my quick updates make up for it. This chapter took me long into the night to complete, and a lot of coffee, and I **don't** drink coffee!

I hope to finish this story by 12th september, (but Idon't know how many chapters it will total),along with a very short sequel, see my profile for a bit more info.


	11. Touch

Mika and Gohan awoke as normal for another day of education at Orange Star. Both remembering their very important watches, they dressed and departed for the city.

"Shall we introduce the new superheroes today, brother?"

"Do you have to call us superheroes, Mika? We're juat there to help out a bit. Nothing too flashy."

"Whatever it takes to get the job done Gohan, if I have to get a bit showy I will." Gohan looked over at his sister, with that grin on her face. She always was one to show off, and now she was about to enter a stage that allowed almost unlimited chances for that, even if it was under an alias that suggested it was a 'man' behind the mask. At least that fact would hopefully mean absolutely no one would suspect her.

As they approached the outskirts of the conurbation, the general noise of a city became evident. The humming of electricity, the growl of cars bumbling along and the inane chatter of countless city-dwellers were all noises that were amplified by the slightly improved hearing the two teenage Saiyans possessed. Gohan hated that noise, and everything that went along with it. All of the people rushing around, taking absolutely no notice of others around them, and the simple tasks that became arduous in the busy streets irked the youth no end. Just walking down the street was a challenge, at least for the normal folk. People seemed appeared to sense Gohan's powerful and domineering presence as he strode down, moving to get out of his dangerous path. Those that didn't were cut down by uncaring shoulders that took no notice of what they were knocking over. He much preferred the countryside he had grown up in, no multi-story skyscrapers, let alone a section of concrete.

Far into the city, the unwanted, but unavoudable sounds of crime could also be heard. A gunshot here, a scream there, all criminal offences, most of which would go unpunished. Gohan and Mika were now almost at their destination, and began to descend through the cloud cover. As they did so, a driver could be seen careering through the traffic, cutting a deadly swathe. "I'll leave this one to you, I think you need to make your introduction." With a nod, Mika flew down quickly, activating her disguise immediately. Gohan watched from above, floating high to avoid prying eyes. All of those should have been focused on the streak of green, black and red that was descending at breakneck speed.

Mika crashed down hard on the bonnet of the car with her feet, stopping it dead in its tracks. All other cars had stopped to avoid any collisions, and now the drivers were leaning out of their windows to see what had just halted a tonne of metal going at seventy miles an hour in a few inches. A quick blast from Mika had shattered the windscreen, to allow the two men she had spotted were the only ones inside to come flying through. Of course, they hadn't been wearing their seatbelts, so they came quickly into her expectant arms. She caught them in one hand each fairly gently, but dropped them hard onto the floor once she realised they were completely unscathed.

A number of drivers and pedestrians came running over to the scene, for a closer look, their curiosity getting the better of them, some cheering the end of the pairs destructive rampage. A few cars looked worse for wear as Mika looked at the carnage wreaked by the pair, who were, quite obviously drunk, at 8o'clock in the morning. Quite how, was anybody's guess.

"Who are you?" was asked a few times, by different mouths.

Mika, put on a stern face, and looked away into the rising sun fairly monumentally, standing atop the car's bonnet. She adopted a deep voice, and replied, "Saiyaman." A keen ear may have heard a low, roaring laugh, coming from high above.

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"Saiyaman!" Gohan said as they landed on the roof of their destination, imitating the voice Mika had used for her moment, a smirk still held on his face.

"I have to keep up the pretence that it is a man under that thing, my voice isn't exactly manly."

"It isn't?" Gohan joked. Her voice was strong but overtly feminine, but she was self-conscious, even about this.

"Shut up and get inside."

They walked through the door leading to the top floor and descending the stairs to the floor where their formroom and lockers were. The halls were fairly quiet, and soon Mika had spotted Videl and Erasa hovering around their own lockers that were located close to their own. Videl had spotted the two first, they weren't hard to miss. All other students seemed to move out of their way quick enough. She looked to Gohan quickly, but then focused on Mika instead. The last time they had met, Videl had blushed profusely since she had just moments earlier had her hands all over him, in an innocent manner, naturally. He had that devilish smirk on his face when she glanced at him, which was so often present, in the absence of his scowl of course. He had been looking directly at her, his confidence showing through. Videl was shocked at herself, she was always confident, more than anyone she ever knew, that is until these twins came onto the scene. Nor had she been embarrassed, yet this one male had her flustered and discomforted in his presence after only a few days of knowing him, if she could call it 'knowing' him.

She couldn't fathom how these two could be so similar but yet so different. They had grown up together, sharing the joys and hardships of life, surely they should be almost identical in personality. Mika had been open and exuberant instantly, whereas Gohan was obviously a cold and closed person. This was what was annoying her so much. It vexed her mind, and she wanted some sort of clue as to why the circumstances were as they were. She also wanted to know how Gohan had received such horrific scarring to her body, but thought that perhaps that could be a bit_ too _intimate of a detail to ask in passing conversation.

She waved to Mika as she opened her locker and began sorting through the items inside. She spared a quick glance at Gohan. He was leaning up against his own locker, that was yet to be used, staring directly into her eyes. She suddenly found the contents of the bottom of her schoolbag extremely interesting.

The four of them, soon to be five, as Sharpener joined them made their way to the classroom, Gohan following behind, not wanting to engage in a conversation of any sort. This morning he had had a little fun with Videl, staring right at her like that, his interest in her was probably obvious to her know, but she probably just thought he was curious about how she was acting around him. He enjoyed making her nervous like that, exerting his power over her. He could of done it to anyone of the other girls, but it wouldn't be half as much fun. She was the prize asset of the school, the city in fact, as she was Mr Satan's daughter. It was likely that no other in the world could do to her what Gohan did, and that enthralled him. His desire to keep himself away from her was now overwhelmed by this powerful feeling he felt, along with the growing desire for her to be his that lingered in his mind once again, and was struggling to hold at bay.

Registration went as normal, with the four on the same row chatting animatedly, Gohan sat, head leaning on an arm looking out of a window, answering to his name with a grunt. As the day wore on, Gohan's smirk from the mornings activities had disappeared completely, replaced once again with the menacing scowl. The pressure on his mind was growing, with the proximity to Videl driving him crazy. She had been in several classes with him today, and Mika insisted they sit together.

He surmised it was a drive from his instincts that was doing this to him. His body had found himself a suitable 'mate', would be the way Vegeta would put it. Gohan hated it when Vegeta called it that. It made him seem like an animal. When the Prince had first explained the intricacies of Saiyan mating, Gohan had been embarrassed, more so than ever in his life, and it was the only time since the Cell Games that it had happened.

Vegeta had taunted Gohan for a long time about Videl after they had first caught sight of each other in such an obvious manner during the tour of Capsule Corporation, ad thought Gohan had found 'his woman'. That was the reason he hadn't mentioned her to him at all. His body was therefore trying to force into attempting to reproduce, to pass on his genetics. This wasn't just Saiyan nature, it was human nature. After all, that is why we are here, to continue our line. Gohan was just a bit unhappy that it was a lot more powerful an urge in himself, that was trying to make him do it at sixteen with a girl he barely knew, for less than a week in fact.

What made it so much harder however, was that he didn't want it, love in any form, as he had shouted to himself numerous times, both inside and outside of his mind. The fact that he thought himself to be sterile didn't make matters much easier. He was a half breed. Nature didn't allow hybrids to reproduce. Humans and Saiyans were two different species, for him to be able to sire children would be to say these two apparent species were effectively two different 'breeds' of the same species, something he was sure Vegeta would not like to hear. Gohan wondered whether Vegeta knew that Trunks would probably never give him grandchildren. It was probably not something he would want to know, that his line would most likely end within a century, if that.

At lunch, Mika sat with her new friends while Gohan left them rather dejectedly to make his way to his tree, where he dozed off for the remainder of the hour, before doing so feeling the ever increasing number of studies Videl made of his face.

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Videl couldn't stop herself steeling glances over at Gohan all day long. She watched him intently during registration in the morning, sat slouched in his seat, with unhappiness clearly evident on his face. Almost every second she thought back to the differences in the twins. What had happened to Gohan to turn into such a depressed creature? What could do that to a person? People weren't born that way, they were made that way.

As she looked at him sat below the same tree he had been underneath on other occasions, she couldn't help but feel longing for him already. As embarrassed as she had been, she had enjoyed the closeness to him she had experienced, to be in his arms did indeed make her feel so much safer and more whole than ever before. She wanted to be with him, for as long as it was possible in a life. She had never taken notice of boys before, none had been suitable at all, especially considering her father's rules of someone having to be stronger than him. She felt that rule was actually important. She didn't want to be able to easily physically dominate a partner, she wanted to feel like she could be protected by someone, something she had been doing for others for as long as she could remember. Judging from Mika's display early on in her high school career, the Sons certainly were powerful, probably as strong as herself.

It didn't matter that she had met him just a few days ago, she had felt these urges after seing him at Capsule Corporation for a brief second, especially after the way he had looked at her. Truth be told, she just wanted him to take her and make her his own, and as stupid as it sounded, if he asked her to marry her tomorrow, she knew she would say yes without a hint of hesitation, but it didn't seem like that was going ton happen too quickly, judging from the cold reception she had received, along with the rest of the school. He wasn't looking at her all day because he felt the same, it was just because he was toying with her, wasn't it? He had probably done this to countless girls in his mis-spent youth.

Perhaps it was her years of neglecting boys and their advances that made her want him, or perhaps it was just Gohan.

This activity continued after they were called in after lunch and well into the afternoon's lessons, where the two had time away from each other for a little respite from each other's presence, for a little time to let their minds wander a little from each other, even if it was for the briefest moment. It wasn't easy working in those conditions. Conveniently, Videl was not called to any crimes, so classes went uninterrupted. Mika was the one chosen to keep tabs on Videl's ki when they were in separate classes, Gohan making the excuse that he was too lazy, and didn't really care that much about the whole idea. Mika's well honed ki-sensing skills had not dwindled over the years, and it was an easy enough task to perform along with concentrating on the philosophy teacher's words.

As the school day ended, Gohan called Mika over to him. "I'm not going home yet Mika, I'll see you later, I'm going for a prowl around the city, y'know?" She did know, it was a frequent occurrence for Gohan to wander off on his own for hours at a time, and even their mother understood he just needed a break every now and then, everyone needed one once in a while. Mika was just a little surprised that he was going to do it in this city, with all it's noise and bustle, it wasn't ideal for being alone with one's thoughts.

But maybe that was what he needed, time with nothing in his head at all. The countryside around their home probably held far too many memories to go without thinking of them for long. So, she left him to wander off on his lonesome, into the crowds of Satan city.

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Gohan walked slowly but steadily around the city for hours, allowing it to grow dark around him, as the people dispersed to their homes as they did on a wednesday night. His head was clear. The sounds of the city were blocked out and all conscious thought was removed from his head as he wandered aimlessly. He was jerked out of this, however, by something most unexpected. A soft voice was calling, or rather shouting. Instantly he knew it was Videl's voice, what else could bring him out of the mindset he had been in. He groaned. The exact thing he had been trying to rid of his mind had found him in a city of over a million others. He could now make out underneath the streetlights that he was chasing after a man, who was running at a very fast pace away from her. She wasn't losing ground on him, but certainly wasn't making any up. Squinting, he could see two police officers falling behind steadily.

"Stop him!" She shouted at Gohan. She hadn't recognised it was him yet. As the criminal went to pass him, he reached out a hand, grabbing him by the scruff of the neck as he did so. The criminal, whoever he was, struggling to try to free himself, and punched at Gohan's body and face furiously, wondering why this man was holding him in one hand, unflinching as the pounding he was receiving was not even touching him.

Videl let out a shriek of victory as she saw the scene, and drew close. The two police officers were now coming closer themselves.

"Gohan!" She almost whispered as she realised who had apprehended her target. He simply looked at her as she stood there, beginning to pant, doubling over from the chase. The man fell limp in Gohan's grasp, obviously just as tired as she was. All she could do was to look up to him in shock, unable to get any words out. Gohan handed the tall, thin male over to the policemen, who promptly handcuffed him, thanked the two teenagers and set off with their bounty, after checking that Videl was all right.

Gohan looked down at Videl. In truth, she looked a mess. Hair all over the place, shirt torn, body bleeding and still panting, Gohan became almost worried for her. She had told the officers she could make her own way home, her independence showing through.

"There was a big fight...drugs...he was the last one." She seemed to feel the need to explain herself. Gohan didn't care, all he cared about was her getting home safely. If she encountered any of the enemies she had probably acquired over the years, she would be in trouble in the state she was in.

"Are you going to get home all right. Have you got your jetcopter?" Care was evident in his voice, the need to protect this girl had taken over.

Videl was slightly taken aback. He had barely ever spoken to her, if at all. Now it seemed like she was the most precious thing in the world to him. "Um, no. I dropped it a little way back, I'l just get it-" She started to turn, but Gohan stopped her.

"We'd never find it, you'll have to walk it, is it far?"

"Not really." She was shivering now, the night had become quite chilly. Gohan sighed. Drastic measures were to be taken. He couldn't fly her home, his cover would be blown instantly, and he wasn't about to knock her out and take her. He removed his jacket, and Videl tensed as she realised what he was about to do. He stepped closer, and swung it about her shoulders.

"Come on, I'll walk with you." She began walking in the direction of her house, it really wasn't far at all, perhaps ten minutes. She found herself following his every instruction and bowing to his will as he took her home. The two walked in silence, Gohan keeping his eyes forward, remaining quiet, not wanting to spoil the comfortable silence that had overcame them as they began the trek. Videl spared a few glances up at him every so often, just to make sure to herself that he was really there. The comfort in the silence had surprised her, she had expected it to be awkward, but they had been at ease with each other straight away.

The rich area of Satan view was coming into view, and the biggest of the lot was evidently Videl's house, sporting a large 'SATAN' near a public entrance, probably to a dojo of some sort. The house had no form of electronic gates or cctv that was evident, obviously no one dared to try to burgle or attack the world champion. Gohan silently insisted on taking Videl up to the family's entrance. As they reached the door, the lights of the house lit up Videl's features. The fight had taken it's toll on her and she was suffering from a black eye, along with numerous other cuts and bruises on her face.

Gohan lost himself at that moment. He gently brought a hand up to her face, and grazed a thumb over the area below her eye, which was now a violent purple. Videl closed her eyes as she felt his fingers on her face. She flinched at the pain from the eye, but Gohan's tender touch softened that pain. She looked up at him, blinking in surprise at his soft touch.

He moved his hand to rest on her chek and tilted her face up slightly to meet his own. Slowly he moved towards her mouth, and the two closed their eyes in unison, both feeling the soft touch of each other's lips blindly. Videl lifted her arms and wrapped them slowly around his neck, allowing Gohan's jacket to fall slowly to the ground, completely lost in the kiss, while Gohan snaked his free arm around her back to enclose her thin waist. He had lost all control of his bod and senses, and his mind was just coming to realisation as to what he was doing. With a veritable scream in his head he yanked back, surprising Videl into almost falling over as he did so. He began stepping back, shaking his head.

He was now mumbling incoherently, his hands visibly shaking. He was incredibly shook up, and he only just caught hold of himself before he shot off into the night sky. Instead, he turned and ran, until he was far out of sight of the young girl who stood stock still where he had left her. He had kissed her, she was shocked that it had happened to say the least. But obviously it was a mistake, at least on Gohan's part. But not the kind of mistake where you would just kiss someone when you were drunk and regret it later, it was a kiss she knew he desperately desired, but couldn't allow. She knew that much, just not why exactly. Bending down, she picked up the jacket he had left, she would return it tomorrow. That would give her a chance to speak to him at least, as strange as the situation might be. This had to be sorted out, however awkward it may turn out to be.

* * *

I don't know if I've mentioned this, but the reason I chose the name Mika is because it is a Norwegian and Japanese name that means 'New Moon', chosen obviously because of the saiyan/moon thing. Just thought I'd mention that.

Another thing, I used the Japanese way of saying names for the Sons, e.g. Son Gohanbecause it sounds better for them, but the normal way for the rest, e.g. Videl Satan.

I'm sort of regretting saying I could finish this before 12th September, because I will have to absolutely nail the remaining chapters in less than two weeks, and then I go on holiday and then straight to university, but I will try.

Oh yeah, thanks for all the reviews!


	12. Nonsense

**I changed the rating to M, because of this chapter as well as others, as I don't think the ratings guide is clear and I didn't want to risk it. There is a bit more swearing, but nothing too strong, and this is NOT a lemon, so don't expect it as you read it. It goes pretty far, but isn't graphic. You'll see when you read. I skimmed over some parts, which you may or may not notice, but they are trivial and don't really matter.**

* * *

Chichi was slamming her fists on the door of her eldest sons bedroom, that he shared with his younger brother. Goten had been unceremoniously thrown from the room as he attempted to wake his brother, when he had first woken up himself. There had been no clue as to why he had tossed out of the door like that, but the fact that he had been bouncing up and down on the teenager's head probably didn't help matters much. 

"Gohan, get up this instant!" She hissed through the door. "Your sister has already left for school, you're already late."

"I'm not going back! Leave me alone." He groaned back at her.

"What are you talking about, you can't just leave, what about college?"

"Oh, kill me now." He grumbled, getting into college was the least of his worries at the present time.

"Fine, I've had enough. After today you'll realise what a mistake you're making and you will be straight back tomorrow, I promise you." Footsteps could be heard leaving the doorway, and exiting to the kitchen. Chichi was confident a day with her would be enough to persuade gohan to go back to school. He was probably just having one of his off-days, things he had had plenty of down the years. Plenty of nagging at him would do the trick.

Deep under his covers, Gohan recounted the events of the night before inside his head. To his eternal surprise, he was almost angry at himself for running away like that. He knew why he had done it, he was falling into the trap he so desperately wanted not to fall into, to be attached. It was already bad enough he had his family that he cared for, he didn't want to extend that. But he couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if he had not stopped it, had let it take its course. He even started having brief glimpses of a life bonded to another, in the way of marriage, very brief glimpses they were, of happiness and smiles, things he thought were long lost in his cold heart.

Sometimes he wondered why he couldn't just give it up, and give in to his body and mind's desire, succumbing to Videl's allure. That was why he wanted to stay away from school, at least to see if he could last without seeing her, but he was unsure as to the multiple onsloughts of his mother alone would be too much for him to bear.

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Mika flew to school alone, having also failed to get her brother to leave his bed. Something had obviously set him off the night before, during his stroll around the city. He didn't return home for hours, and when he did, he was in a foul mood, shunning contact and biting the head off anyone who tried to talk to him. He refused food and slammed the door in the face of his mother as she scolded him for his insolence. It almost seemed as though Goten would of had to sleep in another room if Gohan had not opened the door for him, allowing a brief window of opportunity to see what sort of a state he was in.

It had been a long time since he had done something of that sort, but it was not unexpected, school was a big upheaval for them all, particularly Gohan, who had taken years to settle after their father's death, much longer than any of the others. He still obviously felt guilty for that, despite reassurances from friends and family otherwise. Even the current and former Kami of the planet couldn't persuade him otherwise of his guilt. So, as she flew, she pondered what he could have encountered the night before.

It was possible that something reminded him of the Cell Games, Satan city was plastered with billboards with Mr Satan's face on them, and they served as a constant reminder to the people of the events seven years ago. But Mika couldn't really see how that would work, it would of had to be a very delayed reaction to those posters if it had only just affected him, he didn't seem bothered during the first few days of school.

Every thought she had of what caused his strange behaviour came to nothing, but one thing lingered in her mind. Gohan had of course been acting his usual, cold self towards everybody he met, but there were subtle differences between the masses and one person. And this was to do with Mr Satan. Gohan had been acting very strangely towards Videl.

He had tensed up when she entered a room, followed her every move as she walked and constantly had his eyes on her. And the on the first day he had just stared at her while they stood at the front of the class. Obviously Videl was very attractive, but Gohan wouldn't be too bothered about that, at least not to this extent, there were other pretty girls he could stare at for just as long as he wanted. Perhaps it was the fact that Videl was the perfect match for him, whatever mood he was in. Mika had wasted no time spotting that.

Even if Gohan was in the state of mind he had been before their father had died, at this point in time, a happy, jovial teenager, she would still be perfect for him. She hadn't at first thought Gohan had spotted this, but now she wasn't so sure. Maybe he had, and that was what had shook him up. Maybe he was scared. Scared of what this meant for him, and scared at what it might result in. Gohan hadn't forged a new relationship of any form since Goten was born. A relationship with that would result with Videl might be too hard for him to resist. It certainly seemed like he was trying though.

Once again, upon entering the city and approaching the school, Mika spotted trouble. It looked like a routine robbery, and the police vehicles had surrounded the building, but hadn't managed to make any progress, if they had even tried at all. She activated her disguise with the watch and swept down towards the building. If she acted brutally, but quickly, she could have it sorted out in an instant. The door was barricaded, she noticed as she plummeted to the ground, with a few men peeking out through gaps.

Heading directly for the door, she put a fist out in front of her and swept it in an arc to coincide with her descent. The impact of her fist hitting the glass crashed a hole right through, shttering the stacked up furniture, ans she continued her flight into the building. Instantly, she spotted there were no hostages, only a few armed men, two of which she had knocked unconscious when she destroyed the door. This would be easily enough. Soon enough, they were all out cold, and she was dragging them all back through the door.

Outside, the police were dumbstruck, having seen only a blur. One other was present however, who stood out from the police clad in their black uniforms. Videl stood there, with a similar look on her face to the rest of them, probably wondering what exactly just happened. She stood, wearing her usual overlarge white t-shirt and spandex three quarter lengths.

A cheer went up from the police force, after they all realised they would have yet another morning without a shoot out. Videl, however, simply stepped forward, a look of deep interest on her face, that was aimed at Saiyaman.

"Who are you?" She asked in an accusatory tone, as if Mika had been the one trying to rob the .

"Saiyaman." Mika replied in her fake voice.

"Couldn't your parents give you a proper name?" She laughed out loud, amused by the name.

"It is a proper name." She retorted, a bit annoyed that Saiyaman wasn't considered a 'proper' name by Videl, and it being laughed at. "What kind of a name is Videl anyway?" Mika didn't really have anything against the name, and certainly not against Videl, but thinking of anything to annoy her a bit back.

Videl stopped laughing now. "It's a perfectly normal name thank you very much." She stated very matter of a factly, realising halfway through that this one knew her name as well.

Mika decide it was time to take her leave, and floated a few feet off the ground, in readiness to take off.

"Wait!" Videl shrieked, surprised at the floating hero in front of her.

"What is it?"

"How do you fly like that? Is it just a trick?"

"Of course it isn't a trick. I'm sure even you could learn it."

"Will you?"

"If you really want to, I will."

"What? Honestly?" Videl was shocked this charcter was going to teach her to fly, if it wasn't just a trick that is, perhaps she would find out who he was.

"But only if you find out who I am." The voice said, amused. Videl's face dropped, he had gone.

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Mika stood at her locker alone, waiting for her friends, without Gohan of course. She saw Videl coming along the hallway alone, huffing and puffing. She looked annoyed and out of breath. She looked up at Mika, and noticed she was alone today. Where was Gohan. As she reached Mika, she swung her bag off her back and began opening it.

"Where is Gohan?" It seemed like Videl did take quite a bit of notice of him after all, if he was the first thing she thought of.

"He's at home. Having a bit of an off day. Why?"

Videl pulled a jacket out of her bag. Gohan's jacket. "He left this last night." Now her previous idea was cemented in Mika's mind.

"Left it where?"

"At my house, at the door."

"What!" This did indeed shock her. Why had Gohan been at Videl's house?

Videl obviously saw the need for an explanation. "I was chasing some druggie, Gohan stopped him. Then he insisted on walking me home and he gave me this to wear. I was freezing. But, he forgot to take it, that's all." She thought it best not to mention the fact that they had kissed, and then he had ran off.

This certainly was interesting, Mika thought. She would think about this later, best not to press the issue right now. "Why are you so tired this morning? It looks like you ran a marathon, you look a mess."

"Thanks." She said with a smile. "I lost my jetcopter last night, and I haven't been able to get a new one yet. I would have been alright walking to school, but the poice contacted me, 'cause they needed my help. I ran straight there, but by that time, someone had sorted it out. The jerk than had the nerve to just fly away from me!"

"Fly!" Mika feigned ignorance, amusement dancing in her voice.

"Yeah, I always thought that was a trick, my dad says it's lights and mirrors and stuff. Seemed real enough to me though."

Erasa could soon be seen strolling down the corridor, her apparent lapdog Sharpener at her heel. Giving her hellos to the other two, she noticed Gohan was missing. "Is Gohan ill?"

"Yeah, something like that." Mika replied, ill in the head it seemed.

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Later on that day, Mika and Videl were in one of their classes together, without the blondes. The teacher had been sent on a training course, so they were left to their own devices, him not bothering to think to set them some work to do. They were currently sat chattering about anything and everything, but there was a question Videl was itching to ask, one that had irked her for a long time, or at least it seemed like that, it was more like three days. She had simply been waiting for an appropriate time to ask it, without the blondes listening in, or Gohan, the subject of the question to be around.

"Why is Gohan so..." She was now struggling for the right words, even though it was like she had been rehearsing it in her head for such a long time.

Mika herself had been expecting such a question from the first day. "So cold, uncaring, distant, unfeeling and such a complete and utter bastard?"

Videl smiled, some of those words had been what she was looking for, but he seemed to be fairly emotional the night before. "Yeah, I guess."

Mika felt Videl was a person to be trusted. Plus, she thought she owed it to her. If Gohan liked her in the way she suspected, she deserved to know something about him."Gohan has had a troubled life. He's been through some shit, that's for sure. I think the main reason he is the way he is, is because of our father's death."

"I didn't know about your dad, I'm sorry, if you don't want to tell me about-"

Mika stopped her. "It's fine, I'm over it, people die, that's life. His death shook him up, they were close."

"I don't want this to sound too bad, but why is he like this and you aren't? You lost him too."

"I know, but it was the way he died. Gohan blames himself, which he shouldn't do, it wasn't his fault. And there's more to Gohan than that. He's been through so much himself. He was kidnapped when he was four for one thing. He didn't see his family for a year. A whole year. That is a long time when you are just a child." Videl's mouth was hanging open, she had not expected somthing of that sort.

"And he has been in fights, a lot of fights."

"With other boys?"

Mika chuckled, thinking of Cell and Gohan scuffling in a schoolyard. "No, real fights, battles. I can' really go into details, but thoses kinds of things really hit a person hard. Gohan was such a happy boy when he was younger, even after all the fights and kidnappings. It was dad's death that sent him over the edge. If only he didn't blame himself." Mika sighed, if only.

"Those fights, is that where he got all of those scars?"

Mika was taken aback. Videl had seen Gohan's scars? "When did you see them?" She questioned.

"After PE, the other day, Erasa stole his shirt."

"Good job it was her. A guy would be in hospital for that right now. Those scars he got in those battles, yes. As you saw, they certainly were fierce."

"What about the deep one, the really big one." Videl pointed to her collarbone where the most obvious one had been.

Mika looked out of the window and sighed. She remembered back to that day. "He got that scar saving a man's life. A friend, a good man, even though he wouldn't admit it."

"Who did it?" She was hanging on every one of Mika's words now.

"You don't have to worry about him, it doesn't matter."

"What happened to him though?"

"He's dead." Mika stated monotonously.

"Dead? How?"

"Gohan killed him." She said this while looking Videl directly in the eye, trying to gauge her reaction. She seemed shocked, but luckily not appalled. She didn't want her going round to their house and trying to arrest Gohan.

"Was he an evil man?"

"Very, the worst. You couldn't imagine the things he did." Videl remained quiet, and Mika allowed the new information to sink in.

Videl was thinking all of this material over. Gohan was a killer, plain and simple, but yet for some reason it didn't come as a surprise, he had that look about him. And from what Mika had said, it seemed to be in self defence, and a righteous act, certainly not a cold blooded murder. She wondered when it could have happened. What were these battles that had occurred. There had been no wars in recent years that she knew about, especially ones that child soldiers had participated in.

She had some recollection of a fight that had gone on when she was a small girl, perhaps four or five. Something about aliens who had landed. Apparently they were repelled eventually in a battle with a number of martial artists, some well known for their antics in previous Budokais. Some said a small boy had been one of them, but she couldn't remember, the cameras had been destroyed quickly, and in respect for those killed by the outsiders, the tapes were never shown to the public of what had been filmed, which was very little as it was.

Could this be the type of battle Gohan had been involved in? Was he that little boy? And of course there were that group at the Cell Games, that boy had fought Cell, and was doing well, the announcer had told the world, after the camera had been destroyed, standing up to Cell himself. But he had gold hair and green eyes. Just like the guy who arrived in the city earlier in the week. Who uncannily resembled Gohan, and even dressed alike. Their arrival in the city had also coincided. Very strange indeed.

She looked to Mika, who was jotting some notes down on her paper, she seemed to be allowing Videl to immerse herself in her own thoughts, and was not giving away any more information. Perhaps she had given away too much already.

Mika thought the time might be right to ask a personal question of her own. "What is going on between you and Gohan?"

Videl turned back towards Mika, looking her straight in the eye. "I think I'm falling in love with your brother."

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Mika flew home as fast as she could, not wanting to hang around much longer. The bell had rung abruptly, bringing both girls out of their thoughts. Mika had been surprised at Videl's admission, and was actually quite pleased. She doubted whether Videl was truly in love with Gohan, they hadn't even known each other for a week, and hadn't spoken to each other a great deal. She didn't doubt that Videl actually thought she was in love though, she had stated it without hesitation or regret.

But maybe it was true love, surely a true, powerful love would be instant as this one had been. Some grew over time, some people took a long time to realise it, and some just knew it from the moment they first met. She hadn't had a chance to talk further with Videl over it, who had quickly become embarrassed, realising just what she had admitted, and departed the building. Maybe Gohan would return to school tomorrow and this would be resolved quickly, and hopefully, she prayed, happily.

She reached home in record time and stormed up to her brother's bedroom door, and began knocking furiously, as she had done earlier in the day. "Gohan! Are you not out of there yet?" All she heard was a groan.

"That's all I've had out of him all day." Her mother had joined her side, Goten in hand. "Even Goten can't get through."

"Yeah, he's been grumpy all day long." He huffed and lightly kicked the base of the door. All three of them could easily break the door down, unless Gohan was stood the other side of it that is, but to do so would be to incur his furious wrath, which none of them wanted to do.

"Let me speak to him alone, will'ya?" Mika pleaded. They nodded and went away. Mika lowered her voice so that she was sure only Gohan could hear. "Everyone was asking about you today." Grunt was all she heard. "They actually seemed a little worried actually, asked how you were. Don't know why, it's not like you'd do the same thing back, is it?" Another grunt.

"Maybe there is one person you'd be worried about though." There was no sound this time, he knew what was coming. "Videl asked a few questions about you too, today. The general theme was why you are such a jackass." Time for niceties was over. "Asked about your scars. So I told her about some of the fights. She also had a jacket for you, that you left last night, wonder what you two were doing?" She was actually enjoying herself now, taunting her brother like this.

"She said something very interesting. Said she thought she was falling in lo-" She was stopped mid-sentence as the door swung open, revealing Gohan, who was fully dressed, much to her surprise. She had doubted he had even moved out of bed all day.

"Don't say it. Don't you dare."

"In love with you."

"I told you not to say it. And she isn't, in love with me at all. Nonsense." He stepped back, shaking his head, trying to convince himself. "She just can't be."

Mika began pleading with her brother. "What if she is? Do you really want to mess up the one chance you might have at love?"

"I don't want the chance! I don't." He trailed off.

"Please, Gohan why won't you just accept it. Embrace it, it might just save you from this torture you've given yourself. Nobody should live like this. It wasn't your fault, and even if it was, you still wouldn't deserve this. Come to school tomorrow, and sort this out."

He sank back onto his bed, the options running wild through his head. "I don't want to lose anyone again Mika. I couldn't handle it. I've already let enough people get close to me, I don't need more. And I don't want to be the one to leave someone." He looked up at Mika, honesty etched onto his face, as if he was about to reveal his biggest fear to her, which he was. "What if we ended up together, married with kids, and I went out and got myself killed like dad. You saw how bad mom was, how bad you yourself were. This family was broken. I don't want to do that to someone"

"That's life Gohan. Shit happens, moThe nextre of it befalls some rather than others, but that's life." Mika thought to what Gohan had just said, he had obviously considered being together with Videl, and even kids. That was a start at least, he hadn't thrown the idea out completely, although he probably would never admit it in his current state of mind. "You could be happy Gohan. Imagine that Gohan, happiness. It must seem completely absurd to you these days. A smile a year seems to be your average. You would be happy with Videl."

"We only met a few days ago, and I'm sixteen Mika, too young for a serious relationship." He didn't sound too assuredby his own words.

"No, you aren't Gohan. Take this chance before she walks out of your life. She isn't going to wait around for ever. You've almost completely wasted the last seven years of your life, don't waste the rest." She got up to leave the room, leaving him to his own mind's thoughts. Shutting the door, she let out a sigh. Some progress had been made, now she had no doubt in her mind that the two wanted each other, it was just matter of prodding Gohan a little, and letting him get on with it. Hopefully, soon enough he would realise that there is nothing he could do to prevent it from happening, and simply allow it. She only wondered how serious it would get, and how quickly.

That night, Gohan was left by his family to himself. Mika didn't breathe a word of Gohan's relationship with Videl to her mother, she would only complicate things. The next morning, Mika once again left for school alone. Gohan had allowed Mika in for a word, after a night spent alone in his room. Mika had persuaded Chichi to let Goten sleep in her room, to let Gohan cool off a little more.

During their little talk, Gohan had expressed his wish for another day of peace. The calm before the storm perhaps. One more day away from school. Then he would return after the weekend, and begin to settle this mess, if you could call it that.

She had agreed to this, and also planned not to bring it up with Videl during the day. She would step aside and let them deal with it themselves. Hopefully, Videl would be too embarrassed to talk of it either. Videl didn't seem the type of girl that was well versed in relationships, and had shunned them aside, much like Gohan had done many years earlier.

As planned, throughout the day, Videl acted as though the previous day's last lesson had not even taken place. However, at the end of the day, Videl caught up with Mika as she walked down a deserted street after school, who was looking for somewhere to take off from, after finding the roof inaccessible from the school buildings.

"Mika, wait!" She shouted. The girl turned to face Videl. "I just wanted to ask you, how is Gohan?" She sounded concerned, not for his physical well-being, which wasn't in any danger, but for his mental stability She knew it was something of that sort that was keeping him away. "How is he coping?"

"He's fine." She answered. "He'll be back on monday."

"Umm, about what I said yesterday."

Mika held up a hand to stop her. "That is between the two of you, you need to settle this between yourselves."

Videl nodded her head in response. Then, without warning, she flung her arms around Mika in a sisterly hug, embracing the friend she had only known a week, but what seems like so much more. However, in doing so, she managed to collide one hand with Mika's wrist, still held up. A button on the girl's watch was pushed accidentally, and a green tunic began coming into view on the girl, along with a bandana and sunglasses. Saiyaman!

"Mika, it's you!" Somehow, she knew this wasn't a trick or just a copycay costume. Mika was Saiyaman!

As the Saiyan realised what had just transpired, she hurriedly pressed the button to deactivate the costume, scolding herself for being so irresponsible with it, she should of taken better care.

Videl, however, had immediately become the happiest girl ont he planet. "I'm gonna learn to fly!" She chanted, the deal Mika had made, in the hope she would never find out who it was, had come to fruitition, at least for Videl. She sighed, she would have to agrre, she had always been a woman of her word.

"Fine, fine."

"And you'll enter the Budokai? You have to, it's only in a month."

Mika thought this one over. It could be good to participate, as her parents had done so many years earlier, and to try to get the others to join too. Plus, Videl had some dangerous information, which she didn't want spread about the city, although she didn't think she would do such a thing.

"Yes, I will." She stood there pondering for a while. "But, I'll have to take the next month off school, I haven't trained in a long time. And when you come over to learn to fly, you will have to see Gohan then and sort things out."

Videl nodded, she had also planned to take the month off, after getting the year started at school. She had a question to ask though. "Is Gohan the other guy, you know, with the hair."

Mika thought it best not to lie, and besides, Videl probably thought it was just a disguise like Mika's, not that he was a transforming alien. And the Cell Games thing would come out if they were together long enough anyway. "Yes, he is. Come over monday, all right, get our address from school, I'm sujre they'll give you it. I have to go now, I'm sorry, but I'll see you Monday." She slowly rose into the air, as Videl was the only one present, and sped off towards home.

Videl stood there, dumbstruck. She was about to learn to fly. But more important things were at hand. On monday, she would be seeing Gohan on his turf. She desperately wanted to tell him how she felt, but was afraid he would reject her completely. She took out her new jetcopter capsule, opened it on the roadside where there was enough room, clambered in and took off for home, she had a weekend to prepare herself.

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Gohan was sat in his room, his anxiety building. He had spent two days without seing Videl, and much to his surprise, he was not managing well. Her image was emblazoned onto his mind's eye, but that wasn't good enough for him, he wanted to see her now, this instant. How could he hold out for another two days. As soon as Mika had returned home, she had told him everything of what Videl had said about the Budokai. He wasn't sure what to think of it. Either way, it didn't matter, two days left. It was now dark out, he was looking out of his window.

His resolve was cracking though, he didn't know how long he would last without going to her. He knew where she lived, it would be easy to find her bedroom and enter through a window. Just what he was going to do when he got there was anybody's guess, he didn't want to think too much about it. His bodies desire to procreate was weakening him, he was about to crack.

A second later, his window was open, and he was away towards Satan city. He didn't even bother putting shoes or socks on, this couldn't wait. The wind rushed past his ears as he powered up so far he was nearly forced to transform. He didn't want to do that though, he didn't know how much 'saiyan-ness' it would bring out. He quickly navigated his way to her father's mansion, and tried sensing her ki. Following that, and the sweet smell his nose was picking up that could have only be her, he found her bedroom.

She had a balcony, with French doors out onto it, that were wide open. As silent as was possible, he descended to the balcony, and slid through the crack in the doors. He was now in her room, where he spotted her sitting away from him. She was sat brushing through her hair, facing a mirror, at an angle to him, so she didn't see his reflection.

She still hadn't heard or sensed him at all. Almost silently, he whispered her name. "Videl." She jumped at the almost inaudible sound and stood up, jerking her body around.

She gasped. "Gohan?"

He gazed longingly at her. She was so beautiful it was hard for him to look at her like this.Her hair was out of her pigtails, and hung loose and free around her shoulders. She had a white tank top on, that bared a great deal of her flat stomach to him, as well as other body parts that it was stretched tightly across.. His eyes trailed down to her legs, where a pair of very short, baggy training shorts graced her hips. Her long, slender legs were revealed almost completely to him, and he stood in awe of her. Her attire left little to the imagination, the majority of her unblemished, ivory skin was uncovered before him.

He moved forward, until there was hardly a gap between them. Without thinking, he grasped her round hips forcefully in his large hands, fitting perfectly in to his palms. She gasped once again as she was brought up against his body. "What are you doing here?" She breathed, biting her lip and looking upwards to his eyes, where she saw nothing but lust for her. The last time she had seen those eyes they had looked old and weathered as he fled from her front door, but now were youthful and powerful with his new found emotion.

"I'm here for you. I can't take this any longer." He removed one hand from her waist, and brought it up to her face. Her hair fell in strands over her eyes, knocked out of place by his forcefulness. He brushed it away from her eyes, being gentle this time. She closed her eyes, sensing what was coming. He slowly moved down to her, much like he had done a few days prior, and kissed her softly on her lips, but this time did not pull away. The kiss deepened, and she found herself giving him what he was giving her in return. He slipped his tongue inside her mouth, and lifted her up, both hands around her waist again, and set her on a set of drawers so she was at a more accessible height for him.

He pulled back from her. "We shouldn't be doing this." Videl murmured.

"I know." He replied. "But I can't stop." It didn't matter that he was far too young to be doing this, or that they had known each other a wekk. All he knew was that he wanted her as his right now.

He captured her lips once again, and she reached up to his shirt, and began unbuttoning it, completely taken by the moment that had befallen them. Once she had undone it the entire way, she pushed the white shirt from his shoulders, and began lifting the black t-shirt that had been underneath over his head. Their hands roamed over each other's bodies, neither able to stop.

Gohan moved his hands up her stomach and ribs, causing her to quiver under his touch. He pushed his hands further up, bringing her tank-top with them, while grazing his hands over her now bare chest. Their chests were now both bared for the other to see, and were pressed close together, the contact sending them both reeling.She gasped once again, these were things she had never been particularly interested in until now, even in the future she had never expected much in the way for relationships, she never thought she would have time. But she had time for Gohan, and him for her.She realised she had been waiting for the right person.

He grasped her thighs in his hands, and lifted her off her perch. Slowly, he lowered her back onto her bed.

* * *

**If you are a bit sensitive to this sort of thing just pretend that they went to bed hugging.**


	13. Snap

**I realise it took them long enough to do something, but that's just the way it goes. This fic spiralled out of control in size, I was originally planning about 10 chapters and maybe 15,000 words. Bear in mind though, it only took a week for themin real time. I just kept writing nonsense for ages and couldn't stop.**

* * *

Gohan stirred a little in his soft bed. His eyes were full of sleep, and he couldn't open them properly, only squint a little out of the slits that had been allowed. Judging by the sun that was streaming through the window, it was early, far too early. He seemed a lot more tired than normal, as though he had been up late into the night, perhaps he had felt the need to do some training, he could remember the trouble he was having with Videl. Maybe he tried to get her out of his head. 

It hadn't seemed to of work too well though, he could remember a very realistic dream that had involved her and a bed. He tried moving a little, but found himself stopped by a dainty hand grasping at his chest, begging him to stay. Someone had crept into his bed, and now asleep on top of his chest. He looked down and saw a mass of black hair underneath his nose through his impaired vision. Goten must have had a bad dream, and crawled into his bed like he used to when he was younger.

But Goten never slept on him like this, and Gohan never never used to put his arms around him in such a way, it was more of a lover's embrace. And since when did Goten wear perfume, and have such soft, silky skin? And since when did he develop such ample breasts that pressed against his chest?

The answer was, since never! He quickly jerked his eyes open, moving a hand up to wipe the sleep from his eyes with a knuckle, the action stirring the sleeper beside him. This was not his room, it was not his bed. It did, however, resemble the room he had been in with Videl during his dream. Shit.

The previous night's activities came flooding back to him now, as the sleeping beauty tilted her head up to him with a look that he swore was also on his own, she looked as confused as him. Had they been drunk? No, of course not, he had never even touched alcohol, and he could not have been more sober last night.

Videl groaned, and placed her head back on his chest. She sighed a contentedly into his chest. Gohan placed an arm around her, before the storm that was about to ensue began. He appreciated the moment and situation for all he could, while it lasted.

Videl herself ached all over. She had given herself willingly over to him, given her purity to a boy, not even a man, whom she had first spoken to days earlier. But yet, despite this, she could not find in her mind a better candidate. The moment had been right, she had wanted him, and for him to take her in return. But even so, both of them realised, the most incredible night of their lives thus far may turn out to be the greatest decision they ever took, or the biggest mistake that could befall either of them.

For this one, indescribable moment, however, these thoughts were gone, and nothing else mattered. After a few more seconds, Gohan breathed in deeply, taking her scent in with it, gently rolled her off him, and turned to sit with his legs over the edge of her large bed. Reaching down, he picked up his clothes and began dressing slowly, while Videl lay beside him.

He could feel her eyes boring into his back, watching him, and he let her continue. Once he looked decent, he turned to her, and she was now sat up, with a sheet wrapped around her modestly.

"So much for sorting it out on monday." She said, smiling.

"I think we should wait a little longer now to tidy this thing up between us." She edged off the bed and rose to her feet, standing below him, where he placed an arm around her back, bringing her closer to him. "We'll wait until after the tournament. All right?"

"Do you regret it Gohan? What if I'm pregnant or something? What will we do?" This was a big fear for her. How could the daughter of Mr Satan fall pregnant at sixteen, well before marriage had ever been considered. Not to mention the fact that her father would find out. His rule of her never going near a boy who wasn't stronger than him was supposed to make her untouchable. Gohan was a contender though, after what she had seen him, as well as Mika, do. If he did find out though, he would most likely force her into an abortion without a second thought. She couldn't bear the thought of this, and struck it from her mind.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you aren't." He was still certain of his sterility. "And no, I don't regret it at all." He tenderly kissed her forehead in reassurance.

She couldn't help but smile up at him. "How do you know I'm not?"

"I don't think that I can have children." He stated easily, as if he had come to terms with it a long time ago.

"What!" She cried. She couldn't help but admit she was a little saddened at his sureness in the matter. She had thought about children with Gohan immediately after what had happened between them.

"Just don't think about it. I don't want another word about it."

She fell silent, biting her lip, she wanted to tell him it wasn't true, she hoped it wasn't anyway, but she knew he wouldn't listen. "Will I still be able to learn to fly?"

He had not thought about that. He thought now that things might be awkward between them, particularly if they had to wait a month, and being in the company of each other during a portion of that mother for long periods, but things were now so easy between the two of them it didn't seem a problem. He nodded. "Of course. Look, I've got to go, my mother wil be wondering where I am."

She nodded. "Ok. If my father caught us you'd be dead. You'd better go."

"Well, I wouldn't want your father after me." He said, with only the slightest hint of sarcasm. Indeed, he could never be physically harmed by Mr Satan, but an angry father was a dangerous father to anyone, no matter how powerful. With a swift, but soft kiss goodbye, he bade her farewell, and took off out of her open doors into the morning sun.

Videl turned and fell onto her bed, a huge smile on her face. She saw his white shirt lying on the floor at the foot of her bed, he had forgotten it. She crawled over her bed and picked it up. She could smell him on it and it reminded her of the night and the following morning. He had actually had smile on his face. It was the only genuine smile she had seen on him, not the smirk that dominated his face when his scowl was away. She liked him like that. It looked like that was the way he was supposed to look.

The night had exhausted her, she had been utterly spent, her energy left her completely. He had been gentle with her, never pushing her or forcing her. She had suspected he might of been a bit rough with her, his teenage hormones driving him, but he hadn't been anything of the sort, and had held himself back, obviously for her benefit.

---------------------------------------------------

Gohan flew home happier now than he had been his entire life, a feeling he never thought he would truly feel ever again. The last seven years in particular had been a struggle for happy moments for him. Even Goten's first steps and words didn't compare to this. The problem now, was resisting the temptation for another month. His body, however, wasn't pressuring him. Maybe it thought it had achieved its goal, to procreate, and continue his line. It certainly took a great weight off his shoulders.

He thought now to what his mother might say. He had been out all night before, but usually let her know in some way. Perhaps Mika would help him. She must of sensed his ki flying rapidly towards Satan city, and she knew what a hard time Gohan was having resisting Videl. She would have undoubtedly put two and two together. He just hoped she hadn't told Chichi. Weddings and grandchildren would be in his face the moment he stepped through the door.

He flew home far slower than the speed at which he had travelled to Videl, savouring the fresh air and sounds of the countryside he loved so much. For the first time in seven years, he was able to fully appreciate them, unlike before this day, where he had acknowledged them silently to himself, only half enjoying them.

Fairly soon however, despite the slow loops and dives he was doing unconsciously for his own enjoyment, the small home came into view. There were two more things he had been reintroduced to this morning. Flying had been a chore, just a method of going from A to B, but now was a joy again. And his home, that hadn't been truly called a home for him for years. It had simply been a house, a dwelling where he slept and ate, that his family happened to still call home. Only one thing was missing from his life now, his father. That was something he could never have back though, he recognised. Despite this, the smile was still not swept from his face.

From a distance, he saw his mother peering out of the kitchen window, waiting for him. Gulping slightly, he began his descent, as she exited the kitchen to come out of the front door.

"Where have you been!" She shrieked. "Didn't tell anyone, no note, nothing. You should be ashamed young man." She scolded. He simply strolled on by, humming to himself.

What could he say? Sorry mother, I've just been out having meaningless sex with some girl I met five days ago. That wouldn't do, it wasn't exactly true, it hadn't been meaningless, and Videl was hardly 'some' girl. "Sorry mother, just went out for a stroll. I woke up early." That would do. She didn't know he'd been out all night, only this morning.

"I'm not happy with you, I don't think I should give you any breakfast." Chichi was probing, if this didn't affect him, there was something up, how could his spirits be this high? Perhaps high school had worked after all. A little sooner than she had expected, but still. Another brilliant plan of Son Chichi's creation. She allowed him to go on by as he didn't seem struck by that threat at all. She did not want to ruin this good mood of his at all, these were hard to come by, and this one was unprecedented.

As Gohan entered the kitchen, his siblings were sat stuffing their faces in typical Saiyan fashion. "Am I allowed some mother?" He asked courteously.

"Of course dear, you were only getting some fresh air."

As Gohan began eating, Mika slowed her pace, and looked over at him, eyebrow raised and a smile on her face. He simply shrugged his shoulders and returned a smile. She knew what had happened.

After they had eaten, Mika and Gohan went outside to discuss the previous night.

"You didn't go to Videl did you?" She asked, immediately.

"Yes, I couldn't stop it. But I can't say that I regret it. I gave in."

She laughed. "You little stop-out! I knew you'd end up like this eventually. I wonder how long you'll have that stupid grin on your face?"

He forced his face into a more normal smile. "It isn't a stupid grin. For once in my life I'm a little bit happy, and I'm making it last. It probably won't last too long either."

"What are you going to do when she comes over on monday?"

"Just pretend it never happened, and wait until after the Budokai. We need to ask mom you know, I'm still not sure if she'll let us compete, let alone take the month off to train."

"It's fine, I told her all about it last night. She wasn't too happy, but I told her about the prize money. She got a little bit excited, the money dad left us is nearly gone. 10 million zeni is a lot of money. Even if we get the others to compete, I'm pretty sure you'll be able to win, you're still quite a way ahead of Vegeta aren't you? And you'll have a chance to beat the crap out of that bastard Satan."

"I don't care about him, but yeah, it should be easy to win, and for you too. You should be able to get pretty far. Do the others know yet? It'll be easy to tell Vegeta about it, and he won't miss the chance for a fight. Piccolo might come too, and Krillen and Eighteen. I don't think Yamcha fights anymore, and we won't find Tien."

"Come on, let's fly over to Bulma's to tell them." With a quick word to their mother, they took off towards West Capital. On the way, Gohan changed the look on his face back to the one of casual indifference to the world, he had a reputation to upkeep, he couldn't be seen happy, people would ask questions.

Once they had arrived at Capsule Corporation, the Briefs family assembled in one of the laboratories, ready to hear the news that the twins were bringing.

"Bulma, you remember the Budokai that all the guys used to compete in?" Mika started, and Bulma simply nodded her head. "Well, Gohan and I will be competing, and we were trying to get everyone else to come too. So, are you up for it Vegeta?"

"This Budokai or whatever it's called, when is it?"

"A month."

"And your father used to compete?"

"Yes, three times."

"Fine, I'll come, it isn't like I've got anything better to do, I'm always training anyway."

"That's for sure." Bulma said rather dejectedly.

Suddenly, a voice appeared out of thin air, raising goosebumps on the arms of those present who recognised the voice. "I'm going too!" It said.

"Father!" Gohan whispered. "That's his voice."

"Dad, is that you?" Mika questioned the voice.

"Yep, it's me."

"Are you really coming to the Budokai?" Mika asked, still shocked to at the revelation.

"Yes, I asked Baba to come for one day...the day of the Budokai. You guys are going too, right? I'll definitely be there."

"Great!" Mika cheered. Gohan allowed the smile to creep back onto his face. A chance to see his father again, if only for one day, was something he had been waiting for for a very long time.

Vegeta also seemed happy at the news, a chance to defeat Kakarot was an opportunity not to be missed. "This is excellent. Everone be ready, I've become pretty strong."

"Me too. Let's all meet there." Goku said. "Tell your mother kids, I didn't want to tell you I was coming with her around, I thought she might get a bit too emotional." He had that right. And then, he was gone.

"Don't forget to tell the others you two, they'll want to know straight away." Bulma told them.

"Yeah, we'll go now. Come on Gohan." The two waved godbye, and shot out of the open window. Between themselves, they decided to split up, Mika was to tell the lot on Kame island, and Gohan to go to the lookout, before meeting back up near to home, in readiness for telling Chichi.

Once their individual jobs were completed, they met up a few miles from their countryside of their home.

"Did everything go all right?"

Gohan nodded. "Piccolo is coming, but Dende isn't, he's not a fighter Namek. What about your end?"

"Krillen wasn't going to compete at first, he didn't think that there was much point with so much competition stronger than him. Eighteen made him though, after she heard about the prize money. I was wondering about Videl, you're going tot each her to fly, right?"

"What! I can't, I don't think I could control myself around her." Gohan had been sure Mika would teach her, she had after all been the one who made the deal and allowed herself to be discovered.

"I can't, I haven't trained for seven years, I need some practice. Goten and Trunks will want to fight too, so I'll take Goten and spar with him, he should easily be strong enough, and I'll teach him to fly, it should only take a day for him. Videl might take a little longer. Did you know he can transform?"

"Yes, he showed me. It seems as though he's been born with the ability, sparring with mother and me the odd time wouldn't be enough to push him over the barrier. Maybe because dad was at full power when he was conceived." With a shudder, the two shut up quickly after this, thoughts of their parents having sex weren't pleasant ones.

Mika didn't seem to want to budge, Gohan was just going to have to put up with Videl right in front of him for as long as it took for her to learn to fly proficiently. That problem would be dealt with on monday. Today, however was saturday, and the two of them had more pressing matters to deal with, like how to tell their mother that she was about to see her husband again.

Chichi was currently shrieking with joy at the news, proclaiming to Goten how brilliant his father was, and how he would fnally get to meet him. Mika felt that this would be a good time to tell her about Videl coming over to learn to fly. She quickly mentioned it, and Chichi turned to them, a suspicious look on her face.

"How does she know that you can fly?" She questioned.

"Well, she found out I was Saiyaman, and she could tell the whole world if we don't teach her."

"I hope she isn't coming over to attempt to seduce Gohan. He can't be distracted from training or studies at this time."

Gohan nearly fell over. She wasn't actually too far off the mark, but he was fairly sure there wouldn't be any 'seduction' taking place over the next month after their agreement to wait a while.

-------------------------------------------------

Monday morning came around soon enough, which Gohan had been dreading. Hopefully he would teach her quickly, and then she could continue her preparations alone at her father's dojo. His relatively good mood had not yet left him, surprising the entire family. The school had been informed of the twin's absence for the next month, and Gohan was now waiting, anxious for Videl's arrival.

He wondered how things would be between them, whether it would be awkward, if he would even be able to look her in the eye. On the other hand, things could be easy between them, like they had been saturday morning, after they had awoken in each other's arms.

His brother and sister were also sat beside him, awaiting the girl. Mika and Goten just wanted to say hello before they went off to train together. Fairly soon, the small blob of yellow became clearer. Videl's new jetcopter was hurtling towards them, but began slowing as it descended. Gohan gulped, now was the hard part.

She waved as she jumped from the cockpit, and gave a quick hello to Mika, and was introduced to Goten. All the while, Gohan was ignoring her, and Videl the same to Gohan, in waiting for a moment alone. As soon as the brother and sister were out of earshot, she spoke. "Hi, Gohan." She whispered, a slight smile on her face.

He smiled down to her. "Let's get this over with." She understood his words. It would be hard to be around each other without doing something stupid again.

Throughout the morning, Gohan attempted to explain the complexities if ki to Videl, but she wasn't getting very far in the way of flying. She had managed to produce ki within her hands, but not much else. She was beginning to get angry with herself, but Gohan kept reassuring her it could take a while. For Videl to produce the ki in her hands, Gohan had had to enclose her hands with his own.

Every touch brought a blush to her face and sent shivers down her spine, all of them reminders. At lunch, Chichi had got a bit over excited at the revelation that Videl had about fifty rooms in her house, but had not failed to notice that there was indeed something very strange going on between her son and this girl.

After this break, the two of them returned to their training spot, Videl still annoyed she hadn't yet mastered this ability. She had always been a quick learner, and the seven year old boy flting around high up in the sky a little way away wasn't doing much to bring up her spirits.

She was currently concentrating hard, trying to float a little way off the ground, but wasn't geting very far, and promptly slumped to the ground, gasping for air.

"Is this how you were trained Gohan?" She asked.

Gohan thought back to his training in the wilderness with Piccolo, it certainly wasn't the way he was trained. "Not exactly. My sensei left me alone in the wild for six months, where I learned to use ki, and then he trained me to fight for another six. He used to throw me at mountains."

"What! How old were you?"

"Four."

"Is that what you did when you were kidnapped, learn to fight?"

"Yes, but it didn't really seem like I had been kidnapped. The person that did it is like family to me."

"Who was he?" She questioned.

"He was actually one of my father's first big rivals. He was the one my father defeated to become world champion."

"Your father was champion? Who was she." She hadn't known this, but as she thought about it, the answer to her question came to her mind, there was only one possibility."

"Goku. He won the twenty third Budokai."

"So then your sensei was Ma Junior. The Demon king Piccolo. I've heard all about him. I thought he was evil?"

"He was, but people change." Gohan himself had changed a lot in his life. "Lots of people do. My father trained me as well, when I was a little older. Enough talk for know, we've got to teach you to fly." He thought of a possible way to bring the ability out of her. Perhaps if he did something like what Piccolo used to do to him. Maybe not to the calibre of throwing him at a mountain, but put her in a situation where she had to or would end up in trouble.

Quick as a flash, he reached forward, and grabbed her waist, and flown thirty feet into the air. Videl shrieked and closed her eyes, an action that brought memories back into her mind of herself and Gohan. "What are you doing!" She breathed out quietly.

"Just relax." He replied. "Concentrate your ki, as if you're trying to float, as hard as you can. Just don't panic." She did as he asked, trying to blot all other thoughts out of her mind, ones of both panic and being in his arms again. Slowly and gently, Gohan released his grip on her, and she found her body floating high off the ground. She cried out in jubilation.

Far below them, just out of sight, Chichi stood watching. The mood Gohan was in seemed to have something to do with Videl. She had expected it to dissolve instantly when the girl arrived, visitors were not usually welcome to Gohan. And the way he had held her in his arms suggested so much. On an impulse, she had decided to take a camera out to capture the good mood that was the rarest of rarities, and had a good one of him holding her. Who knew how long it would take for his sullen face to reappear.

This was a precious photograph. There were very few of Gohan in the last seven years, he had decided he didn't his face in any, and one of the only other decent ones had been one of his holding Goten as a baby, one of his scarce smiles adorning his visage.

After a few more hours of training Videl to float gradually higher off the ground, she was ready to go home, to return tomorrow. As she stepped towards her copter, Gohan pulled her back, so that she was close up against him once again. He moved a hand up to comb through the bunched hair of her pigtails, making her blush instantly.

"You should cut your hair."

"Why? Do you think that it would look better that way."

"You look beautiful enough as it is. It's just for the tournament. If it's short, your foe won't be able to grab it, and it won't get in your eyes."

She nodded, appreciating his advice, still enclosed in his arms. "I'll cut it just before it begins."

He slowly released her from his grip, and allowed her to enter the cockpit of her vehicle. With a wave to the others, who were now approaching, having missed the last few moments, she was gone. Gohan had nearly lost control that time. This was much harder than he thought it would be.


	14. Statue

Gohan was waiting for Videl for their second day of training. Mika and Goten had gone out early for a day sparring. Yesterday Gohan had managed toresist the urges to take Videl in his arms in a loving way for almost the entire day, right up until the end, where he had given in to temptation. He felt like trying not to do it again, but he couldn't decide whether or not this was a good idea.

Waiting until after the tournament to be together had seemed like a good plan at the time, but he hadn't thought how hard it would be. Maybe if he let himself 'slip-up' just a few times, it might quench the feelings. Yes, that would do, surely a kiss and an embrace here and there wouldn't do any harm. As long as he kept it secret from the others, it would be fine. He didn't want any interferences in their relationship.

Soon, the yellow spot in the sky came closer and ever larger, small but powerful engines whirring inside it, could be heard by the teenagers sensitive ears already, even from this distance. Before long, he could make out the familiar black mass of hair and ivory white skin of a face he now found himself wanting to see every day, something he would have probably laughed at a year ago, or even a week ago.

She expertly landed ont he soft green grass, rustling the plants around the vehicle as the engines died, allowing the noises of the country air to re-emerge. Gohan noticed she still had her hair long, and had not yet taken her advice to shorten it. Instead of the pigtails, however it was tied loosely behind her head in one large bunch, several strands falling lazily around her face, framing it.

She appeared to realise what he was thinking, and duly began speaking. "I won't cut it until just before the tournament. It'll be a bit of a surprise for you to see me like that, and for everyone else. Bastard reporters will be after me about it, like usual." She sighed. They had always been a nuisance in her life, always there, over any change, no matter how big or small, or private for that matter. Her father lapped it up of course, never one to shy away from a bit more of the spotlight.

"Are you ready to continue training?" Gohan asked.

She nodded, another few days and she would be flying freely, or so she hoped.

The entire morning was spent bringing Videl's energy out into it's useful form. Luckily, her previous training had unknowingly developed her ki to a somewhat respectable standard, and she was know floating thirty feet off the ground, but this time without Gohan carrying her up there. Gently, she let herself drop towards the grass.

"Gohan, are you and Mika stronger than I am?"

He had been expecting something of this sort, but had actually prepared for a physical onslaught from the girl he felt would occur for Videl to figure it out. "Do you want the honest answer?" She nodded to him. "Yes we are."

She didn't seem too shocked or angry, which he thought was a good thing. "Is that because you've known how to use ki for so long?"

"Yes." He decided not to tell her that another reason was that he was half-alien, at least not yet.

"Are you stronger than my father? I don't think he kn ows how to use ki. He says it's a trick."

He decided it would be best not to tell her the entire truth this time, as much as she might not like the man, he was still her father, still a hero and saviour in her eyes. Who was he to proclaim the man's weakness to the world, as if they would believe him anyway. Videl was looking up at him as though she would believe every word that came out of his mouth.

"I don't know Videl, I haven't seen your father fight in seven years. He could have trained furiously for those years, or not at all, I don't know."

"I bet he has trained. It's his life. He does it in secret, I never see him doing it."

"So you don't spar with him?"

"No way! He'd beat me way too easily. I haven't fought him for years. I got a lucky punch in on him when I was eleven. He wouldn't train me after that. Said his methods were far too advanced for me."

"When someone wins something, becomes the champion, they become relaxed, and assured of their own greatness. They often think they don't have to work to keep up their title. When my father first entered the Budokai along with his friend Krillen, their Master entered, to prevent them from winning. You know why?"

"Why?"

"Because if you think that there is someone out there who is stronger than you, you will always train if you are dedicated enough. And rest assured Videl, there is _always_ someone stronger than you. Even your father. No offence to your father Videl, but I doubt he has lifted a finger in preparation for this tournament. Saving the world may have been the downfall of his martial arts' career."

She seemed to be in agreement, Gohan's words fitting well with his behaviour recently. He was always watching his tapes, claiming it was important to study them, but perhaps he was just reliving his glory days. Perhaps he would finally get what he deserved, a thorough beating. And if she had her choice, it would be Gohan who dealed it out to him.

After receiving a few odd stares from Chichi when they had stopped for lunch, the two of them resumed their day long training session, Videl becoming gradually more able in the art of flying. As the afternoon was drawing to a close, Videl began to make her preparations to leave for home, before her father would begin to suspect something was amiss.

Gohan's urges had been growing steadily stronger all day long, with her sitting right there, so easily within his grasp. Now was the time to achieve his 'quota' for the day. As she retrieved the capsule for her copter, he approached, grasping her firmly by the hips. She squealed, but looked directly up to him, knowing what was coming. She stood on her tiptoes as he tilted his head down towards him. Their lips met again, much like they had only a few nights ago.

They stood there for minutes, their kisses growing deeper and more passionate, until Videl broke away, breathing heavily. "I have to go." She whispered in between breaths.

He nodded in agreement, it wasn't worth arguing over, she would never be allowed back if her father found out about where she had been going. He released her from his tight hold he held on her, allowing her to step back and pick up the discarded capsule she had dropped when he had kissed her. Throwing it a few feet from their position, she clambered in, and smiled warmly at him, a quick wave of the hand in adieu.

The next eight days passed just the same, although the goodbye kisses became more heated and insistent as the days wore on, and hands once again became to stray around bodies, teasing and taunting. It was now the tenth and final day of Videl's training. They had agreed to leave each other to train for the remainder of the time they had before the tournament. There would be plenty of time for other activities after that.

Framed by a tree's sagging branches, they stood unmoving in the cool breeze. Their foreheads were pressed gently together, both of them with their eyes closed, prepareing for the barren two weeks that lay ahead without one another.

"I'll see you soon." Gohan murmured ino her ear, enfolding her into his strong arms, where she settled her head on his chest, underneath his chin.

"Mm-hm." She groaned, unwilling to move from his encirclement. Slowly, he brought his arms back from around her to rest by his side, and she moved backwards a little. With a soft peck on the lips, she floated up into the air. She had already said goodbye to the other three Sons, and the two of them had crept away for one last goodbye alone, so she was free to take off into the afternoon sunset without any eyes on her apart from Gohan's.

After she had left his sight, he turned to wander back home, alone with his thoughts. Two weeks without her seemed a daunting task, especially after the last ten days. They hadn't spoken a great deal about their feelings, and he certainly hadn't gone as far as to say he loved her. It was something that was lurking in the back of his mind, taunting him.

His greatest fear of the last seven years had been uncaged, but to admit it out loud would be like a death sentence for him, he still couldn't quite handle. Luckily for him, Videl hadn't told him anything of the sort either, perhaps also in fear of the repurcussions it could result in. It was best to keep their relationship simple, as it had been, it seemed to be going well enough as it was.

He also felt that they didn't need words, he was sure that, despite his lack to the admission, Videl knew he loved her, and he was sure that she loved him in return. Sying that you loved someone was a hard thing to do, and telling that same person that you are a half human, half alien hybrid, was even harder. Gohan wondered how he would tell her that. He felt he should, eventually, it was only right. Another thing that would probably come out during the tournament would be Gohan's identity as the person that had truly killed Cell, at least to Videl. Hopefully the entire world wouldn't discover his little secret by some twist of fate.

The majority passed by Gohan slowly and with great difficulty. Vegeta and he had decided to end their spars, at least for the duration of the tournament preparation, so training was done alone, Mika and Goten not posing much of a challenge, and both busy with each other, training. What little training he had managed had been unsteady and fairly useless, his mind had been on far prettier things.

It was the night before the Budokai, and Gohan was restless in his bed. Goten was snoring peacefully beside him, in his own bed, and his mother and sister had also gone to bed hours ago. It was the middle of the night, and if he wasn't asleep now, he probably wasn't going to drop off anytime soon. His thoughts wandered to Videl and if she was up, doing the exact same thing as him right now.

Their agreement to meet up again at the tournament island posed its problems. It would be far too crowded for them to find some time alone, and there would be numerous people there who could sense exactly where he was. He also wondered whether Videl had cut her hair yet, and how it looked. He wouldn't get much of a chance to apprecite it in the bustling crowds of martial arts fans.

He made a snap decision, and was racing towards the city he had left behind nearly a month ago, one goal in mind. As he approached her mansion, he could both sense and smell her, as he had done the first night he had flown to her. As he had expected, she was still awake. She was sat out on her balcony, a light nightgown on, a far more feminine sleeping attire to what he had seen her in first. She hadn't yet seen him, but he could now clearly make out that her mass of ebony hair was no longer such a quantity.

As he drew closer, he could see her more clearly, and saw that she was looking up into the night sky, where the stars were blurred by the air and light pollution of the city. She turned her head towards his position, and seemed to recognise what it was instantly. She stood up quickly, awaiting his arrival. He deftly landed on the balcony, inches in front of her.

"You shouldn't be here!" She proclaimed. "And now you've seen my hair." Gohan chuckled at her worries. She seemed to be as protective of her hair as a woman was of her bridal gown.

"It's beautiful." He admitted, staring into her azure coloured eyes. She stared back to his black eyes, that now held such warmth, that had grown so much over the last few weeks, changing from the ice cold, distant, almost dead eyes that had resided there before.

He pushed her back into her room, and wordlessly began undressing himself. He moved to her, and began to slowly peel off her own clothes.

Videl ran her fingers over his chest, her fingers trailing over the scars that covered it. Delicately, she moved an index finger to the largest one of all, the one he had received from a man he later killed. She wondered exactly how he had been given that, what sort of weapon could do such a thing. She traced the line down his collarbone and shoulder, lingering over it, before he pushed her back to her bed once again.

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Gohan awoke in suroundings that were quite familiar, and this time he wasn't confused as to where he was, and knew exactly who it was that lay on his chest. It was early in the morning, fortunately for him, because he had to be back home before anyone else woke up, and then get ready to fly to Capsule Corporation to take the plane to the Budokai with all of the others.

He stirred, and rolled over a little, allowing Videl to fall off his upper body. She was still half asleep, far too tired from staying up late into the night to awaken at this early hour. He dressed quietly, not wanting to disturb her sleeping form more than he already had. After completing this task, he crouched down to her.

"Goodbye Videl, I'll see you later." He whispered into her ear. She groaned in response. He brought his lips to her own, and she was awake enough to respond by pressing her own back to his. He gently stroked her now short hair, and took off from her balcony doors towards home.

Videl didn't awaken completely for another two hours, having pleasant dreams all morning as she lay somewhere between sleep and consciousness. As she blinked the sleep from her eyes, she gazed around the room. Gohan's white shirt was hung on the front of her wardrobe doors, waiting to be returned. She hadn't had chance to give it back last night or this morning.

Luckily, her father was not permitted to enter her bedroom, so he had not spotted the shirt that obviously belonged to a male. None of the maids had the gall to say anything to her, only signalling their acknowledgement of it with a wink and a cheeky smile. Talk that 'Miss Videl' had a special male friend was probably rife within then workforce of Mr Satan's mansion.

She had been far too out of it to tell Gohan what she was originally planning to tell him and Mika at the tournament... that she would not be competing.

She took the large aeroplane to the grounds of the Budokai with her father, having already told him that she wouldn't be competing. She told him about the old injury that had flared up. She didn't want it to get worse for the future, and said she was prepared to wait another few years. He didn't seem bothered too much, and din't even question when she went to the doctors. He claimed he kept a good watch over her, but in reality he did not have a clue as to what she had been getting up to in the last month.

"An old injury!" Mika exclaimed, as Videl revealed to the twins that she wouldn't be competing. She had spotted them in a large group being led by a man with large hair dressed in an orange gi, whom she had only glimpsed briefly. She could of sworn he resembled the twins father Goku, whom she had only seen blurred pictures of.

"I'm really sorry you took the time out to teach me to fly Gohan, I hope I wasn't a nuisance." Gohan simply shook his head, a smile plastered to his face.

"Gohan, why don't you go find the others, I just want a word with Videl alone." Gohan nodded to Videl, the smile still on his his lips. Videl sighed. He appeared completely clueless to the situation. "An old injury?" She asked, with a smirk, a knowing smirk, Videl regretfully admitted to herself.

"Yes, I don't want to damage it further." She realised this wasn't working on Mika. "Please, just don't tell him, Ok? Or anyone for that matter."

"Of course not." She said, a genuine smile on her face, before giving Videl a sisterly hug, much like Videl had done to her weeks earlier when she had discovered her identity. "Come on, why don't you come and meet the family?"

Videl was led over to where Gohan was stood, with a group of around a dozen assorted characters, some of them were the strangest ones she had ever seen. There was a talking pig, one of which she had never met before, a flying cat, and a huge, green man who could only have been Gohan's first sensei, Piccolo, she surmised from Gohan's description of him. Others present included the Briefs, whom she knew to be friends of Gohan and Mika, a few former world martial artists, Goten and Chichi of course, a decrepit old man and a young woman she did not recognise holding a young girl in her arms, and a huge, hulking giant of a man. The man in the orange was also there, complete with halo above his head. At this range it was clear that he was, in fact Goku.

But wasn't he dead? After introducing her to the others, just as 'Videl, a friend of herself and Gohan', Mika whispered in her ear. "You aren't imagining things, that is my father. He's been allowed back from the dead for a day." Apparently that was all the explanation she needed.

After the participants signed up, and Goten and Trunks discovered they would be fighting in the children's section, the fighters departed from their entourage. Videl went with Chichi, not wanting to be in the place she should have been, and hoped to be so much. But the reason she was not fighting was so much more important than that. There was always next time.

The group took their seats in the stands, where Videl was hounded by Chichi and Bulma about what she thought of Gohan. Videl had always thought that Gohan's mother suspected that something was going on between the two of them, and now, apparently she had informed Bulma, and the two did a double team on her. Do you like Gohan? What do you think of marriage? Children? He's very handsome isn't he? Were all questions she was not prepared to hear at that moment.

She awestruck by how quickly and easily Goten and Trunks ripped through the competition in the children's division, and were pitted against each other in the final. It was the greatest fight she had ever seen, and it was between a seven and eight year old. She had grown fond of the youngest Son during her time with them, and secretly hoped he might win. She didn't admit to this, however, as Bulma looked almost as formidable as Chichi. She did not want to be in the middle of those two.

To her disappointment, Goten had been beaten, after both children had done some strange trick, that brought back memories of the Cell Games broadcasts, and resembled what Gohan had looked like when he fought crime in his 'disguise'. Hmm, interesting.

She was also _very_ surprised when Trunks had nailed her father with one punch, sending him headfirst into a brick wall. Soon after that, the boys' mothers chased them down attempting to steal some food, and brought them back to sit with their group. Stealing food when they had 15 million zeni between them! Let alone Bulma's billions.

An announcement came across the public address system, that preliminaries had been completed, and the field had been narrowed down to the final 16. Not long after that, the pairings were revealed to the crowd. Vegeta had been drawn with a man dubiously named 'Killer', Eighteen with Supopo-Bitchi, Mika with Yam, Goku with Jewel, Mr Satan would be fighting Gohan, one that Chichi seemed especially pleased of, Kibit and Mighty Mask, Krillen with a huge, cocky man named Punta, and Ma Junior with Shin.

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Gohan was stood in the waiting area, accompanied by his fellow fighters. Most of those present he didn't know didn't lok much of a problem. There were the two pale, cadaverous men, who appeared as though they could explode any minute from their over-developed, bulging muscles who had far too much ki than should be possible, but still nothing of a threat, even to Krillen. And the two odd characters, dressed in even stranger clothes. Their ki was hard to place, and he couldn't get a good grasp of exactly how strong they could be. Overall though, he wasn't worried about the competition, and was actually excited about the chance to put Satan down.

The only one of Gohan's friends and family that might not get through the first round was Piccolo, who didn't seem to happy about his match-up with the mysterious Shin.

Vegeta seemed happy enough with his opponent, and the match was over before it had barely started. The blonde android Eighteen disposed of her foe easily enough as well, much to his disgruntlement. His partner in crime, Yam, must have said something Mika didn't approve of as they walked up towards the ring, and he was dealt with accordingly, being smacked about the ring a little, before she decided to end it by tossing him out to the side into the wall.

His father dealt with his own match as humanely as possible, before it was Gohan's turn to go 'toe-to-toe' with the champion himself. As they slowly walked up the paved walkway to the ring, Satan spoke to Gohan out of the corner of his mouth, while still waving to the crowds as jubilantly as possible. "I saw you talking to my daughter." He hissed. "Boys don't talk to my daughter kid." He then gave Gohan a stare that was clearly supposed to intimidate the teenager. Instead, it just infuriated him further. The crowds were already getting on his nerves, and he about ready to take it out on the afroed man that now stood before him.

As the announcer shouted, "Begin!" Satan rushed toward Gohan at his full speed, lunging with a clumsy fist. Gohan sidestepped him, still in his lazy form, not needing to try at all. As he did this, he gave him a swift knee to the stomach, sending him to his knees. The crowd gasped at their hero's misfortune. He slowly got to his feet and lunged once again.

Gohan ducked and rammed a fist into his stomach, just hard enough to leave a bruise, and then proceeded to swipe the champ's legs from underneath him, sending him flat onto his back. The crowd had almost fallen silent now. The favourite to win by far, was losing easily to a kid in the first round. He remained on his back for a few seconds, allowing the realisation that he was losing sank in. He decided he must be imagining it all, and rose to his feet once again, raising a hand to the air, two fingers raised in his usual vidtory stance, and bellowed as loud as he could.

In his reverie, he didn't see the fist flying at his face, and catching him square on the jaw that shut him up completely. He slumped slowly to the floor, completely unconscious, his hand still in its 'victory' pose. A few long seconds passed before the announcer proclaimed Gohan as the winner. A cheer went up from the crowd, it wasn't everyday a talent was witnessed like that.

Like almost all champions, Satan was soon to be forgotten. Call it bad karma, or whatever, but fate had just dealed out an ironic hand to Mr Satan. The boy whose fame he had stolen had stolen it back what was rightfully his in return. But not all of it, yet.

High in the crowd, Videl was sat, mouth gaping open. She had prayed to high heaven that her father would lose, he had to be taught humility. Perhaps those women wouldn't be quite so insistent when he wasn't world champion.

And, as luck would have it, the one person that had done it had been the only one she had truly hoped would do it. Maybe her father would allow them to be together, especially if Gohan went on to win the tournament. He had beaten her father with consumate ease, further adding to her suspicions. Something was definitely up. She suddenly had a sneaking suspicion that revolved around the Cell Games.

The rest of the first round went as would be expected for those in the know, for the most part, at least. Kibit got rid of Mighty Mask easily enough, and Punta was disposed of by Krillen. Piccolo, however, under the alter-ego of Ma Junior forfeited the match against Shin, much to the crowd's disappointment.

The second round soon began. The re-match between Eighteen and Vegeta was a tense one. The last time they had fought, Vegeta had taken a merciless beating at her hands, but the tables were now turned. The aged saiyan was more than a match for her, even in his normal form, but he restrained himself well considering their history, and after having a bit of fun knocked her from the ring.

Mika and Goku had a little 'father-daughter bonding' time between them, with Goku running out the winner, ready for the clash that would follow with Vegeta in the next round.

Gohan on the other hand, had a rather more unpredictable route to take. If he beat Kibit, the larger of the two odd fellows, he would face Shin, the one who appeared to be the leader, whom Piccolo had forfeited against rather than fight. As he stepped out into the arena, he felt the eyes of thousands upon him, that went along with the cheers. The eyes of the remaining fighters were also fixed upon him, as if expecting something to happen. Something terrible.

"Transform into super saiyan. I want to see if you're strong enough to help us." Kibit asked, or rather demanded, startling Gohan.

"How do you know about that! And what do you mean about helping out?"

"You'll see soon enough. First change into super saiyan."

"Are you kidding! Transform out here in front of everyone."

"Gohan." A voice said from the fighter's area. It was Piccolo. He nodded to Gohan, gesturing to him that it was Ok to do so.

"Fine I'll change, although I would like to know youe intentions. I'll take it a step further than super saiyan."

"What! A stronger form?"

Gohan let out a yell that shook the arena to its foundations, and allowed his body to re-knit itself into it's strongest possible form. Electricity buzzed around him, and his black gi now looked as though it was on fire. "I'm now past super saiyan. What do you want to do know? Fight me?" Gohan said, with the smirk that always adorned his face when he went to this level.

Behind him, Gohan sensed two powers rushing him from behind. He turned to see the two idiots that looked as though they were the living dead flying to him, one of them holding a suspicious looking jug with a dangerously sharp point. He went to attack, but found his arms and legs bound by some invisible force. The point of the jug was now embedded deep into his abdomen, and he felt his energy leaving him.

He felt so drowsy, as though he could just drop off to sleep. Soon, it was over, and he had fallen limply to the floor. A number of people came rushing to his side, as he saw his father and a few others discussing something animatedly within the waiting area. Mika and Videl had flown over to his side, Videl beginning to cry at the state he was in, holding his head in her lap. She must have thought that he was about to die, but he knew he would be fine, a senzu or a quick heal from Dende could do the job.

While he was within his own thoughts, the majority of the z-fighters had followed the enigmatic Shin into the horizon, after a quick argument between Goku and Vegeta. Mika had also departed, leaving him alone with Videl. He could sense her distressed ki, and something felt very odd about it. An old injury! How had he believed that.

Kibit was now doing something reminiscent to what Dende used to do, healing him. His energy was slowly returning, and he felt it grow back to it's normal level, and then even stronger.

"Come on Gohan, follow me, we must hurry to catch up." Kibit told Gohan, who nodded in response.

"Can I come Gohan, I want to know what's going on." She seemed to have forgotten her little 'problem'.

Gohan turned to face her fully, and snaked a hand underneath her shirt to rest on her belly. "No. We wouldn't want to do anything to endanger your _injury_ would we? I'll see you later." He tilted her face up to his with his other hand, and kissed her gently, before pulling away and taking off into the air. With a wave, he was gone over the horizon.

Videl moved a hand to her stomach where he had just touched her, ignoring the cheers from the crowd at seeing that little show of romance. He had that same knowing smirk on his face that Mika had had. Did he know? She was almost certain of it.

Another thing she was certain of, was that she had just seen Gohan transform. And he didn't do it with the aid of a watch with a disguise in it. All the evidence now pointed to one thing, something that had been staring her in the face for a month. Mika, Gohan and their friends were the mysterious group of people that had showed up to fight Cell. Gohan had been the youth that had stood up to Cell. Gohan was the one that saved the entire planet in the process.

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Gohan was panting heavily, down on one knee. The wind had ceased, and there was not a sound, even from chirping insects. They had all either fled or died. His body was covered in blood, most of it his own. It certainly wasn't his current opponent's. The three fighters that had been sent by that bastard wizard had been dealt with fairly easily by the Saiyans, only Dabura putting up much of a fight. Gohan had dealt with him easily enough though. As soon as he had done that though, both good and bad things occurred. The good points were that all those turned to stone by the Demon King were returned to normal. The bad point had been that Vegeta had been enslaved to a certain extent.

The energy stolen from Gohan had nearly been enough to awaken this 'Majin Buu' character. After Vegeta had been taken by Babi-Dee, he had instantly begun fighting with Goku. This sent the power meter over the threshold. Gohan could have easily finished the two of them off at the same time, but was stopped by his father and Vegeta ranting about settling the score. Besides, Gohan had been fairly certain that he would be able to take care of Buu on his own. What a ridiculous idea that had been!

Piccolo, after being revived had quickly taken care of the wizard, sending Buu even more insane than he had been before. Gohan had screamed for the others, namely Mika, Krillen and Piccolo to get out of the way, and they had complied. Shin and Kibit remained, but stood by watching, completely helpless. They would only be in the way.

Gohan was about to die. And he knew it. He laughed. The thought of death in a battle had appealed to him a few months ago. If he hadn't to that school, he would never have met Videl, and he might be stood here, uncaring of his fate, happy to be out of the drudge of life. Or perhaps fate would have been so much crueler than that. Maybe if there was no one to leave behind, he wouldn't have to leave. He would win this fight by some chance.

As it was, he was in trouble. His greatest fear had come to fruitition. He was going to leave Videl behind. And an unborn child. It was clear to him now. Turns out humans and saiyans are the same, he cogitated. Her distressed ki had alerted him to the child's presence. He was leaving another Goten in the world. A fatherless part-saiyan.

During his brief break from the battle, he came up with a plan, a half plan. Goku and Vegeta wouldn't stand a chance, even if they fought him together, and he would have to do it himself. Whatever happened though, he was about to f--king die! He screamed in his mind. The plan was taking shape, and he screamed for the two that remained to get as far away as possible.

Summoning as much energy as he could with a howl to the skies, he flung himself at the unsuspecting enemy who had been rolling around doing cartwheels. He poured attack after attack into the monster, fists, kicks and whatever else was available at first. Then he flew back and fired as much ki at his target as was possible, resulting in a swirling mass of pink gloop on the ground before him. It still wasn't enough, he would have to go through with the final part of the plan while Buu was at his weakest.

Before he could make a move, however, the gloop had begun flying directly at him. He was caught off guard, and the liquid flowed into his body through his mouth and nose. It was now inside him, trying to force itself outward, to destroy him from the inside.

This was the ideal situation for him! With all his might, he repelled the force attempting to explode outwards from his body. With one, final, terrible scream, he concentrated all of his ki into one point in his body, deep within, where even Buu could not reach, and allowed it to burst outwards in a blast that shook the earth with its intensity.

The proximity of Buu to the explosion obliterated the pink mass utterly, but at a grave price. Fifty feet into the sky, a grey figure began descending at an ever more rapid pace, until it crashed to the ground with a force that shattered it into oblivion, millions of grains of ash mixing with those of the sand and dirt underneath.

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**A load of piffle from me;**

**I absolutely had to go through the tournament, but this isn't an action fic, and I can't write that stuff, so I glossed over the fights. You want fight scenes, read other fics. Better yet, watch the show again. Vegeta sacrificing his life is one of the greatest moments in DBZ, I love it, and I sort of made a few 'tiny' changes to it. Also, I didn't write the F-word because, even though I say it A LOT, it looks weird on paper to me, and I changed the rating back to T, because I felt like it**

**This fic is drawing to a close, just a few more chapters, maybe two, or, gasp, just one! I'm not quite sure. I realise it took a while to get the romance in, it turned very angsty. Personally, I find that easy to write, and as stated last chapter, this fic evolved into a bit of a beast in length (for me, anyway).**

**The important question is, will Gohan be back to the world of the living?**


	15. Shirt

**This took me an age to finish, and I wrote it before I read the reviews, but never fear! Things always turn out fine in the end. Don't hate me for the first 4/5 of this chapter.**

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The explosion was felt by every human being on the planet as it shook it to its core. Only those beings with the ability to sense ki knew what had caused it, and what that meant. Gohan had sacrificed his life for the planet, taking Majin Buu with him, having created just enough power, and the right situation, to do it. But it would be fine, they would be able to bring him to life soon enough. Surely it was just a matter of finding the Dragonballs, wasn't it? 

At the moment, all of those that knew what had happened, and those related to them were gathered on the Lookout high above the earth, summoned there by Kai-Oo-Shin, the Supreme Kai. Videl didn't have a clue what was going on, she was dumbstruck by the whole situation. Talk of dragonballs and super saiyans meant nothing to her. All she knew was that Gohan, the one she loved, the only one she had thought she would spend the rest of her life with, was dead, and he wasn't coming back.

"Why can't I do it?" Goku pleaded with the Kai. "I'm already dead for goodness sake!"

"No, Gohan is the one I chose. There will be no other." He stated monotonously. "Gohan knew what he was getting himself into. I know all about the dragonballs and their abilities, and I warned him before he fought Buu. If he died, he would not be coming back. He had the choice not to fight."

"He wasn't exactly the type to just run away. He did what he had to do." Vegeta said. He and Goku had ended their fight after sensing Gohan and Buu's destruction, Vegeta returning to normal soon after the wizard was killed by Piccolo. The two of them felt unimaginable guilt at their actions. If they had not fought as they did, Buu may not have been released.

"Nothing that you say will change my mind. And do not attempt to summon him here with the dragon. I have erected barriers that not even the eternal dragon can breach. Gohan died a hero. Remember him for that." A number of the women were now sobbing, Chichi in particular, who then decided that it was time to faint.

"When I return to other world, will I see Gohan?" Goku asked.

"You will not be returning to other world Goku. This planet needs its protector. With Gohan gone, there is no one."

"But what about Vegeta?" All that was needed for that idea to be thrown out was a snort from Vegeta. Perhaps it was best for Goku to return. All he had to do was travel to New Namek by Instant Transmission and summon the dragon there. "I've been gone for seven years. I can't just walk back into my family's life."

"You will have to try. I'm sorry to all of you, but this has to be done. Come now Kibit, let us go home." Without further discussion, the Kai and his assistant had gone, before Goten had reached them with his own pleas to bring his brother back.

Goku sighed. This was a difficult situation. He couldn't leave his family now, they had just lost Gohan and they didn't need the added pain of him leaving once again. But it would be hard. He couldn't replace Gohan, who had been almost like a father to Goten, he would never be the same. He wished now that he had stayed on earth after he had died. All of this could have been avoided. This was not the time for 'what ifs' though, he had to bring himself back to life.

He attempted to contact Kai-Oo-Sama, telling him to alert the Nameks, ready for him. He was sure that they would allow him to use one of the wishes of the dragon, they had given him a new Kami for the planet last time he was there.

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Videl returned home after a few days at the Son's home, her life now altered completely. Her father had probably been looking for her, but she didn't care about him. He was a failure in her eyes now, after discovering the truth about Cell. He wouldn't be too happy about the little surprise that she was about to spring on him. She hadn't yet told anyone directly, she had only visited the doctor to make sure. She felt she at least owed her father the privilege of being the first one she told, but he wasn't the first to know. Mika and Gohan had known, but she had hoped Gohan would be the first she told, the father should be first to know. She wasn't sure if it was a good thing that he had found out before he had died or not.

She landed on the driveway of her father's mansion, ready for the onslaught that would ensue. Opening the large oak doors, she spotted her father asleep in an armchair in the hall, awaiting her arrival. He looked worse for wear, the bruises Gohan gave him still clear on his face. The sound of the creaking door as she closed it roused him from his slumber.

With a loud snort, he shot to his feet. "Videl!" He shouted. "Where have you been! I saw you with that kid at the tournament. You'd better not of been with him."

"He beat you didn't he." She said acidly. "And quite easily I might add. Do you know who he was dad?"

"Something like Gohan, I don't know."

"Well you should. He was that boy from the Cell Games. The one who really beat Cell." Mr Satan stood staring in shock. How did she know that? She moved closer to him, just a foot away. "I thought you were a hero dad." She said, exasperated. "I thought you were a true champion, a saviour. But you're not. You're just a _loser_." That hit him hard. His daughter calling him that in such an honest fashion, as if she really meant it, hurt.

"And you know where he is know dad?" Tears had begun to stream down her face. "He's gone. He's dead." She sobbed. The man didn't know quite what was going on, so he did all he thought he could do, and enclosed his daughters petite body in his arms, encircling her. She began crying heavily into his chest, soaking his shirt. Had this person meant this much to her? He sank back into his chair, with her in his still in his arms.

Never before had he seen her like this, not since her mother had died, at least. They stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity, before Videl was able to get a hold of herself. She whispered to him slowly. "I'm going to have a baby." There. She had finally said it, and she was now prepared for his reaction.

He stood up sharply, and she dropped back to the floor on her feet, having expected this.

"You're getting rid of it now!" It didn't matter if she had been given this by someone that saved the world, someone that was immensely stronger than himself. All that mattered was that some kid had got his daughter up the duff. He was met with a fist in his jaw, right where the contact that had been made in his fight that knocked him out. He was sent back into his chair, clutching his face.

"This child will be the only thing left of Gohan, and you want to get rid of it! You've already taken away the credit from his victories, now you want to do this! You are a bigger disgrace than I thought." She had thought that there might be a chance he would understand, but it didn't appear to be happening. "If you try to do that, you will never see me again." She said this with deadly assurance in her words, staring him in the eye. He turned away, he couldn't take that look. Obviously she was prepared to sacrifice her relationship with her father for this.

He brought her back into his arms. "I'm sorry. I should not have said that." He whispered into her ear. "Did you love him?"

"Yes." Was all she could mumble into his chest.

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Seven months down the line, Videl was sat, legs out in front of her on the lush green grass of the gardens inside Capsule Corporation, one arm behind her back propping her up, one resting on her expectant stomach, that was both a blessing and a burden, left to her to carry by Gohan. Her hair cascaded down her back, she had not had it shortened since he had died. She had been lost for the first few months, she didn't know what to do without him. She was seventeen, expecting the baby in a month's time. She couldn't face school, not as a pregnant teenager, and had taken up homeschooling, but at a slower pace than normal.

She came here every so often, and just sat. A headstone was in front of her, that simply said 'Son Gohan'. It was roughly in the same place as one that had formerly resided here, the one for Goku. That one had been removed, it was hardly appropriate for a living person to have a gravestone.

The last seven months had been insane. Telling Chichi about the baby had been difficult, she had said she knew something was going on, but didn't realise they were that close. Her father had felt guilty about the whole Cell fiasco, and had admitted to the world the truth. Goku had been informed of the press conference Mr Satan had organised, by Videl, and managed to explain to the world that every fighter present had done their equal part, Gohan just dealt the killing blow, and Mr Satan was just stressed from having to keep the whole thing a secret, which they had asked him to. Luckily this prevented the masses from lynching him.

Mr Satan also told of how Gohan had saved them again, but died in the process. He left out the part about his daughter and the boy though, at her request, it was best the entire world didn't know everything about her private life.

She didn't know much about the child growing inside her, only that it was healthy. As was normal for Saiyan babies. That certainly had come as a shock. Chichi felt it was necessary for her to be told the whole truth about Gohan and the others. It did make perfect sense, she didn't know any humans that could change their hair and eyes at will.

Among Gohan's titles, along with him being the person who had finally killed Cell and saved the world from another monster that no one knew much about, was Martial Arts Champion. Since all those fighter that had moved on to the semi finals, or those left in the quarters awaiting their matches, had left, they had been disqualified. The crowds had simply been refunded, and an announcement made that the one who had beaten the former champion would be named as the new champion. That was of course Gohan.

Mr Satan could not remain as champion, despite the disqualifications, as he had lost in the first round, hardly befitting a champion.

She suddenly felt a presence behind her, and a warm hand on her shoulder. "How are you Videl?" Bulma asked.

"I'm fine." She replied. "Do you want me to go?"

"Of course not, you know that you're welcome here anytime." She said down beside the young girl. "He wouldn't want you wasting away like this. You should be getting on with your life."

"I know, but I can't just forget about him."

"You don't need to do that, just think of what it'll be like when the kid comes along. You won't have time to come here then. A baby is a big responsibility, especially for a single mother. Just concentrate on studying or something to take your mind off things, I'm sure you'll want a career. Your father can't take care of you forever. And besides, you'll have plenty of time to think about Gohan when he gets back."

"What do you mean?" She asked, perplexed.

"Well, you can't expect him to stay away forever, can you?"

"But the Kai said-"

"The Kai said a lot of things. Goku came back, didn't he, and we never expected that. Things change Videl. Wait and see." Bulma got up to leave, speaking no more of it. Videl rose to follow her, taking her advice in. She had hoped and prayed he would be back one day. Now she knew that the others thought he would be too.

"Bulma, do you think he had been afraid of death?"

"Before he met you, Gohan was a bit of a miserable bastard. He even admitted to me that he had actually thought of ways to kill himself, which wasn't easy. Destroying the most powerful being in the universe is not an easy task. I asked him that same question once, and you know what he said?" Videl shook her head, not having a clue.

"He said, 'I'm not afraid of dying, just what my mother might find in my bedroom'. He said that with a smile, as if he truly meant it. I think the only thing he was afraid of was leaving people behind alone in the world."

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Pan wandered through Satan city park, her black eyes darting about it like a hawk's, waching for trouble. It had been her birthday a few days ago, she was now seven years old. She was told that she was incredibly mature for her age, much like her father had been. She wanted to emulate him, and tried her hardest in everything she did. She heard so much about him from her uncle and grandfather, among others. How strong he was, how clever he was and what a great brother and son he had been.

All she wanted was to meet him. Her uncle had been in a similar situation to her, not having a father for the first seven years of his life. His had come back though. She knew all about how her grandfather had returned for a day, and then been wished back to life. Why couldn't her own father have that privilege. She had grown to almost hate the Kai that had taken him away from her before she had even been born.

Her mother never really spoke of him to her, grandma Chichi said it was too difficult for her to do so, and that she shouldn't ask. Her mother missed him more than anything, that was all she knew. She slept with a picture that held the two of them on her bedside table, and wore one of his old shirts when she went to bed.

As the bench that she normally sat in came into view, she noticed that there was already someone sat there. His face was hidden from her, as he held it in his hands. His hairstyle brought a faint smile to her lips, it reminded her of her father's. Spiky and midnight black.

"What's up mister?" She asked as she approached. He didn't look up, but answered her.

"Nothing kid, just leave me alone, you shouldn't talk to strangers."

Pan stuck her chin out defiantly. The only people that could harm her on this planet were people that she knew. Her weekend training with Grandpa Goku made her one of the strongest left on the earth. Only Goku, Vegeta, Trunks and Goten were stronger than her. She had even surpassed Mika. She had been told that her father was even stronger than any of them, even Goku, adding to her image of him.

"I'm not worried, I can do what I like. Why don't you tell me what's up with you."

The man sighed. "It's just...difficult. I've only just got back into town, and I've been gone a long time. A very long time."

"Yeah, go on."

"When I left, my girlfriend was pregnant. I don't even know if my kid is a boy or a girl. I don't even know if they are even alive." The story sounded like her father's.

"I understand. My dad died before I was born. I don't even know if he knew I was on the way."

"I don't want to walk back into their life, as if nothing has changed, we were younger back then, people change. I've changed. I don't want to cause upset."

"All I know is that if there was a chance for me to meet my father, I would take it without even thinking."

"But what if they told the kid things about me. I know my family would have told them all about me. Built me up into something I'm not. Then when they meet me, they could be disappointed."

"My own family tells me all about my father, but I know that no matter how god they make him sound, he can't be perfect. No one is, everybody should know that. I think that you should go to your family, and at least see how they are doing. Don't just make a decision before you know all of the facts."

"You talk like you're a grown woman. You act far too mature for your age. The pitch of your voice doesn't make you sound a day older than ten." He still hadn't looked at her, and she still couldn't see his features due to his large hands covering his face. He stood, now facing away from her. He wasn't the tallest man she had ever seen, but above her grandfather. He had a powerful and daunting presence that she felt instantly as he stood, and she could sense his ki. It was at a normal level, but something seemed off about it. "Thanks kid." Without another word, he strode off.

"Pan sat there for a few more minutes, thinking about anything and everything, until she decided to take off into the air and flew the short journey home to her grandfather's mansion. She lived there with her mother, who had remained there while she attended university. Videl had taken a number of years off school to care for her daughter in the early years, and had only just begun university.

Flying in through her mother's bedroom window, she landed on her feet by her mother's bedside, where she lay, reading, still under the covers. It was early morning still, perhaps seven o'clock, and she was wearing the white shirt that Gohan had left after the first time he had spent the night.

"I just spoke to someone in the park."

"Who was that?"

"Just some man."

"I told you not to speak to strangers, no matter how strong you are. You're still a little girl. There is always someone stronger than you somewhere." She smiled, remembering the words Gohan had said to her so many years before.

"He looked so sad though, I just spoke to him for a few minutes."

"And why was he sad?"

"He said he'd just got back from a trip, and he wasn't sure if he should see his girlfriend and child. He hadn't ever met the kid. Sounded like my dad."

"Yes, but you're father's not on a trip, he's gone for good." Videl only half believed this herself, Bulma's words from seven years before had inspired her belief that he would one day return for her and the others. She didn't want to give Pan any false hope though.

"Will you tell me about my daddy?" It wasn't often that she used that name for him.

"Why? You hear all about your father when you see your grandparents at the weekend."

"I know, but I want to hear about him from you. I know that it's hard mommy, but I want to know." She only said 'mommy' when she was begging for something.

Videl sighed, and picked her daughter up by the waist. She brought her to sit on her lap in her bed, and got herself comfortable again. She picked up the photograph that stood in its simple frame on her table at the bedside. It was the one Chichi had taken when Videl was learning to fly. Gohan was holding her by the hips high in the air. It was too difficult to make out their expressions, but she remembered as as good memory.

She traced a finger along the outline of Gohan. "There's your daddy." She closed her eyes, tears forming within them.

"What was he like?" She was asking as though she knew nothing about him. In truth, she didn't have a real idea of her mother's opinion of her father.

"He was so strong. Much stronger than the others. But there was so much more to him than that. He was loving, brave, courageous and he cared so much for his family. He would love you so much You know all about the battles he was in with the others, don't you?" She nodded, she heard tales of them all weekend long from Goten.

"Because of those fights, when I first met him he was so miserable and cold, a bit like Vegeta."

"But Vegeta is happy now isn't he? Most of the time?"

"He is now, but didn't used to be. Imagine Vegeta being grumpy all day long, and that was how sad your father was, for years on end. Your father taught me to fly, he was a good teacher. For a while, before he died, he was happy. That's how I remember him. Those two weeks were the best of my life." She had a dreamy look on her face, remembering back to the time.

"Did you love him?"

"Of course I did. The only thing I love more is you. But you know what?"

"What?"

"I never told him. And I wish I had. We both knew that we were loved by the other, but we never told each other."

Pan held her mother close, as she began sobbing, memories coming back to her. If only she hadn't found out Mika's identity, and made them enter the tournament. Videl often found herself blaming Gohan's death on herself, but the idea was dismissed by his family constantly.

After mother and daughter remained in each other's clutches for a portion of the morning, both falling into an easy slumber, they were roused by an alarm signalling that it was time to finally awaken. Today was the day of the 27th Budokai. After Gohan had ended up as winner of the last one, they had held another only two years after. Mr Satan had won, with all of the z-fighters remaining absent.

This year, however, five years after that one, some of them would be competing. Goku and Vegeta were to participate, along with their sons. Pan wanted to fight too, and Videl had decided it would be all right. After all, Goten had competed in the child's division at the same age. Pan, however would go straight into the main event, there was to be no youth division. Only eight places were available for the finals, and the other three were made up by Piccolo and Mika. The final one would be anoher, outside of the group.

Mr Satan had retired after his win at the 26th, ending his career on a high note. Videl had a foreboding feeling for this day. The stage certainly was set for a possible return, but she didn't want to get her own hopes up.

She travelled to Papaya island with her father once again, along with Pan. He then left them, to join the other judges, while the young mother and her daughter went off to find the rest of the family. They found them in the food court, the Saiyans stuffing their faces, and Pan joining in, despite rigorous etiquette training from her mother and grandmother.

Looking round, she saw all of the assembled fighters and fans, ready for the tournament. Gohan would have hated it, she knew well of his hatred of crowded places, and this certainly was one of them. She silently said sorry to all of the warriors that had come here for the chance to compete. With the seven here that would be competing, only one had a chance to get through the preliminary punch strength test, and after that, no chance of advancing pastt he first round.

As predicted, the seven from the z-fighters' group advanced, and they were now stood in the waiting area, having just chosen the pairs that would be fighting. The one outsider was a man named Prae Validus. The others didn't see what score he got on the machine, but that was hardly a good indication of power. His ki felt odd, but it wasn't anything of note, it just seemed a bit familiar, and almost similar to the Supreme Kai's for some unknown reason. Even Chichi could probably beat him, judging from that.

His black gi was reminiscent of the one Gohan used to wear, but he didn't really look like him at all. He was the right height, and the hair was almost the same, but his face was not. In fact, it was difficult to see his face clearly. Everytime one of them looked at it, it seemed blurred, and they forgot his features the moment they turned away. All they could tell was that he currently had his eyes closed, leaning up against the wall, focusing himself. Poor guy didn't stand a chance.

The match ups posed some interesting fights. The re-match between Goten and Trunks would be a good one, and the fight between Goku and Vegeta was unavoidable. Goku would be the first to fight, facing off against his seven year old granddaughter. Pan started off well, but was eventually pushed out of the ring by Goku, who was clearly having to hold back a lot of power. Vegeta took care of Mika, now a grown woman of twenty-three.

The most furious of battles up until that point came from the fight between the two friends Goten and Trunks. Goten had his sweet revenge on his best friend, as he narrowly managed to defeat Trunks.

The next fight should have been a formality. As Piccolo stood beside his foe, he turned to him. "You don't stand a chance, you know that, right?"The man simply answered him with an amused smirk. Piccolo decided to _show_ him, if he couldn't tell the man.

As they squared off in the ring, Prae Validus simply stood there, unblinking, staring right at Piccolo. The Namek felt like he had felt when he had been in the ring with the Kai. Scared, and deeply worried. He decided he could not forfeit this match as well, he would look a fool. He charged at his opponent, confident it was just nerves caused by these surroundings.

As he launched his furious attack, he found that none of his hits were getting through. Every single one was being blocked. The crowd didn't seem to realise the seriousness of this situation, but the other fighters in the waiting area were gaping. How had a fighter emerged that was powerful enough to challenge Piccolo.

Out in the ring, things seemed even to the untrained eye. Piccolo knew otherwise. He was in trouble. Every time he made contact with this mysterious fighter, he caught a glimpse of the true vastness of his power. If this was a new enemy, they were in deep trouble. His power dwarfed anything he had ever felt before, even Gohan at his absolute maximum before he died would not have compared, nor would Majin Buu. His weel of power seemed almost infinite, and he was being toyed with.

He caught sight of an ever so familar smirk before him, before it disappeared, and he felt a fist lodge itself into his stomach. He dropped to the floor unconscious, now unable to inform the others of what he had sensed.

They stood awestruck at this man's ability, as he strolled back to the waiting area, Piccolo being carted off to the hospital wing, where they would undoubtedly try to cure him of his 'green-ness'. Goten gulped, he would be next to face him. If he had to, he would transform, surely he couldn't stand up to a super saiyan.

After much banter between the two, Goku and Vegeta fought a long, hard battle, using all of the allotted time. The judges seemed to find them even, but found Vegeta more of a threat to their safety, and so declared him the winner. Neither of the fighters appeared to agree with their judging, and vowed to continue their life long battle after the tournament.

Goten now stood facing the ever smirking face of Prae Validus, who said something he hadn't been expecting. "Transform Goten."

"What!" It was something he was prepared to do, even in front of all these people. Most knew of the 'golden-haired warriors', and threats from Vegeta when Goku had told the world, along with Satan, of the Cell Games, convinced people not to find them.

"I want to see how far you have progressed, your maximum. Show me."

Goten prepared himself to transform. A quick look over to the others told him that they were as confused as he was, but a nod from his father reassured him. Trunks and himself had long since resigned themselves to the fact that they would never ascend past a super saiyan, despite harsh training from their fathers. They had neither the desire for power that Vegeta had, nor the need for it that Gohan had had. Goku, of course had both.

With a yell, his hair flashed gold, and his eyes a bright green. The crowd made their usual acknowledgement of the glowing boy before them. The teenager now felt confident in himself, that he could win. "Now what?" He shouted. He didn't need a spoken answer as his opponent launched himself at the boy.

Goten blocked as best he could, but found himself skidding backwards. His foe continued his relentless assault, driving him backwards, until he felt his feet leave ground. He tried to utilise his ki and take of, but was sunk by a heavy blow to the top of his head, sending him to the floor outside of the ring. Apparently he _was_ strong enough to beat a super saiyan.

Worry was now rife in the camp of the z-fighters. If this was an enemy, they were deep in the proverbial. Vegeta, however, was uncaring, and relishing the challenge. So what if he was powerful enough to take down a teenaged super saiyan, he wouldn't stand a chance against a fully grown, ascended super saiyan. How wrong he was. He was put down even easier than the other two, apparently his cockiness was not liked by his enemy.

After this, they were expecting some word of world domination, procurement of the dragonballs, or perhaps the destruction of the planet. But no, apparently Prae Vailidus felt that humiliating them publicly was enough damage for one day to the Earth's 'special forces', and strode out of the arena without so much as a second glance back, much to the horror of the announcer.

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Videl lay awake that night. Pan had not been upset at losing, she had only entered for a bit of fun. It chimed 12 o'clock. The day was over, and no Gohan. Thankfully, she had not expected him to appear, and had squashed those feelings so that she would not be disappointed. For a brief while, she had been absolutely certain that the man who had won it was in fact Gohan returned to life, everything pointed to it. But if it was him, why didn't he reveal himself. And if it had been his only day, why had he wasted it fighting under an alias.

Breaking from her thoughts, she heard a tapping at her balcony doors. Damn birds, she'd have to get out of bed and send them off. She rolled from under the covers, and straightened out Gohan's shirt over her body. She usually just wore this to bed, not needing much else, as it fell almost down to her knees.

She moved over to open the doors, but they seemed to be opening on their own. She jumped back when she realised there was a silhouette of a man framed there. He stepped in, his features becoming clearer. It was the winner of the Budokai, Prae Validus, but this time, his face was unblurred, free from whatever spell had masked it from view.

The eyes, the nose, mouth, everything was so familiar but distant to her. Handsome features that she had only seen in dreams for the last seven, almost eight years of her life. She let out a dry sob, almost choking. He moved ever closer, and she was stuck in the same spot.

"It took you long enough." She mumbled to him. She saw him smile as he moved inches from her, towering above her slender figure. His hands moved up to her neck, where they gently rested on either side of her face. She clasped her hands around his wrists, making sure he was real. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there." She knew what he meant, and she half laughed, half cried, out loud, he would need to say 'I'm sorry' plenty more times before it made up for the last seven years of her life without him.

He moved his hands to her hips, and she groaned as they moved down slowly and snaked underneath her shirt. It had been seven very long, very lonely years without feeling those hands over her body. She had plenty of suitors, all of which she had rejected before they even got near, none would ever compare. She held out, in the distant hope he was returning, ever trying to find a way home.

She composed herself, and attempted to loosen the sash around his waist that held his gi together. It fell to the floor, and along with it went the rest of his attire. She moved her hands back to his chest, her delicate fingers once again familiarising themselves with the scars that marked his upper body and the contours of his build.

Videl stood on her tiptoes to kiss him, but he lifted her gently off the ground instead, kissing her softly along her throat and neck, savouring her soft, skin. She appeared even more incredible to him than he had ever remembered, with her long, silky ebony hair flowing down her back and around her shoulders, her fully developed, long legs peeking out from underneath the large shirt. She stayed there, inches off the ground, their foreheads pressed together again.

He had waited for so long, he couldn't be sure if this was actually real. He wondered if she thought he was just returned for the night, for her. He would tell her tomorrow that he was here for good this time, for all of them. He had a daughter to meet.

"Bit cliche isn't it? Coming in through the balcony again." She whispered. It was something she actually had always enjoyed. It made it seem so much more risky, like it was forbidden for them to be together, which it had been by her father's enforced rules.

"I wouldn't want your father to find out, would I?" He slowly set her down back on the ground, onto her shaky legs, his hands moving up to the buttons of the shirt, which he promptly began unfastening.

"You certainly wouldn't."

"You know what? I think I left my shirt in your bedroom."

* * *

**Story over.**

**Prae Validus is not Gohan. **

**ONLY JOKING.**

**Who knows what that name means? It isn't anything special really.**

**I feel like this is an appropriate place to finish this part of the story, It is over! There will be a quick sequel, where Gohan's return will be explained, and a bit more G/V romance, along with a tiny bit of T/P at the end. Look out for it - 'Love Will Tear Us Apart'**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed, in particular those who stuck by me and did it almost every, or all of the chapters, and helped me out no end. In particular Shadow Dreamer 27, rinoakes and A-man. Thanks a lot!**

**I enjoyed writing this, and there was a fairly small portion of romance, along with great deal of angst, drama, a little action and humour, as well as a LOT of general nonsense from me.**

**My other stories that will be written soon will be far more romance based.**

**Thanks for reading.**


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